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A STAINED GLASS TOUR
IN ITALY

:■ 1

I I

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Br T!IF. SAME AUTHOR

STAINED GLASS TOURS IN FRANCE

STAINED GLASS TOURS IN ENGLAND

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A STAINED GLASS
TOUR IN ITALY

By Charles Hitchcock Sherrill
With Thirty.three Illustrations

LONDON . JOHN LANt THE BODLEV HEAD
NEW YORK: THE JOHN LANE COMPANY
TORONTO : BELL & COCKBURN. MCMXIII

5352
Al
S53
1913

SCOTT

WILLIAM CLOWIS AMD SONS, UMITBD, LONDON AND ■KCLU

HIS EXCELLENCY
ROQUE SAENZ PERa

PRESIDENT OF THE ARCSNTINI REPUBLIC

FOR MANY YEARS ARGENTINE

MINISTER TO ITALY

lii:/

i ti

k !|

FOREWORD

DO you love a glowing sunset ? Of course
you do— and why? Is it not because
the charm that reaches out to you from
its mass of colour is shot through with
light ? That same charm, produced by the same
blending of light with colour, lies imprisoned in
windows of stained glass, and best in those which
have come down to us from the Middle
Ages, mellowed by the centuries through which
their rich beauty has been preserved. If you will
come with us to see the old windows of Italy
we will take you up and down the land, and
to most of the famous cities of that historical
peninsula. You shall visit impregnable hill-towns,
great cities built upon the plain, Venice, Queen
of the Adriatic, and Rome, the Immortal. We
shall often .vander from the beaten track, indeed
we shall deliberately seek to withdraw ourselves
as much as we may into the far-away Middle
Ages, hoping thus to obtain a living sense of

vii

v.!

A Stained Glass Tour in Italy

the time and the surroundings of the men who
made these wonderful windows. We shaU con-
sort with sutesmen, monks, warriors, jurists,
despots, diplomats, artists—all sorts and conditions
of mediaeval manhood. The Italy that we shall
see will not be the Italy of most tourists, for our
vision of it will be softened and warmed by the
many hues of its glorious glass.

CHARLES HITCHCOCK SHERRILL

ao, Ea»t 65TH Strbet
New York City
Dtetmbtr ut, 191a

fitt

CONTENTS

Introovctiok
Itinirary

ROMB

Okvibto

PiRVOIA

Ammi

CORTOKA

Arizzo
Florimcb .
San Miniato
Val d'Ema
Prato

LVCCA

Fma .

&INA.

Bologna

Venice

Milan

Certosa di Pavia

3
ii
38
46
53
57
63
7»
78

lOI

106
III
116

«*S
133
"4*
150

157
166

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

rACINO PAOI

WiNf«w or 1560, Cartoja in the Val DEma /•««,„*.•

b broken to .vcM n««,<«oB» rfpl^ltaTliSJ;."'*" ''" ""•"""•y Ih. kord^

Typical Occhio, or Eye Window

«wl in Northmi Korop? T* ' iSjUn. (hiSS; '''°'r "J ..'."I" ''•"""
«k.lr royp. 10 . efrcX^. ••(i„;i7/j^'' »««•"»' 'k"" 'n .djiuiing

I Mosaics at St. Paul's, Rome
I Santa Ma«ia del Pofolo, Rome

The <^Kare pMllion of the window

Western Facade. Orvieto Cathedral

.bo.. Se'i?'&icSrof:sj..te.s'e X%r„-:^,r?^"^jr'^

Interior of Orvieto Cathedral

East Window of St. Dominic, Peiuria

^i s^iLVe-s.-^"- .He'^u'idS.s' ^&'-i„«:;:iii; -y^t: rs;

The Lower Church, Ass£<i .

♦o

^ leries

indow<;

A Stained Glass Tour in Italy

Tmi Upm, Chukm. Ami.,

rf''SiJ^J?J!5'J!l«5«fc^.M

Chu.cm AT Calc,n,wo. CoaroN.

•niin« chnrcho,
iit«l pieiur*.

Tl>* |Uh in III*

Intirior op Santa t'Roct
Wi««,», ,« On S«» MicH,,,,

Laurentian Library
San Miniato al Monte .
Interior of San Miniato

9»

100

lot

104

Certosa, Val DEma

'"'"'^5^i&^j:j?-f^st»{j^

CHoiple ol
Agci

Prato Cathedral

s long departed Middle

^^^^^^^^^^s::^^B^

lot

111

List of Illustrations

IHTIUM or P«*TO CATI.ID«At . '**'"* '*"

San Martimo, Li/c< \

iNTiaioK or San Mahtino, Lucca

PlAIZA OIL DUOMO, PlIA
Il(TE«IO« or PlJA CATHtDRAL .

CArHiD«AL or Siena

■■bkloui plu wu ktcr di<cwJ«d. ^^^^^ * ""«" •«■«•. whkh oion
Interim, Siena Cathedral .

o*N Petronio, Boloona .
San Petroio, Bologna .

the many w pleatini in tbU city. ""■" '^''"" »bove, on* of

Mosaics in Torcello Cathedral

wWow th.^y.«,Un. outline. Mr^iiy .JftSKS'^^rS^^*"*" '^

Eastern End of Milan Cathedral

■aiddle of the^ window, to bdance th.i?Vr«l hSijK!""" ""'*" •"»» '"«

xiii

.nil

A Stained Glass T^ur in Italy

Interior OF THE Transept, Milan Cathedral .

of the cfcrMtorlriShS!'^ '"'"'"*'"""'■'"«'>««»««»« ^iiS

PACING rAOB

Certosa di Pavia

This

Interior, Certosa di Pavia

the eniemble. "'^" 'on'nonte so greatly to the richness of

•«♦

1 66

i6S

A STAINED GLASS TOUR
IN ITALY

1^ *

A STAINED GLASS TOUR
IN ITALY

INTRODUCTION

transport oursdvcs Lk^"' .^ " •""■"'. ">
of Italy was , T ^ " '""' "'"" '»'='■ «ty

Florentine I G^r^ '«^"'"''. ->- to J

F'orentinc with tie «1 1' ■ !"" '^"^h. .he

- «.. .ai .ha. site of I " ^ ''^ "'"^
aiSbrences be^een .rana t' "r';'?"

i/-'.

A Stained Glass Tour in Italy

each upon its rocky eminence, and Lucca and Pisa
on their flat plains nestling for protection, the
former within her earthworks and the latter her
machicolated walls. Compare Florence comfortably
ensconced within encircling hills, with Arezzo and
Assisi straggling up steep slopes. What two
countries in the world can show such a contrast
as exists between Venice in its lagoons and
Rome on her seven hills ? Let us sally forth,
therefore, not with a mind to visit happily united
and strongly patriotic Italy, but on a tour among
many strangely difFering Italian fatherlands. Let
us abandon the century in which we live, and
journey back into the times when artistic creation
of unparalleled brilliance, and life of keenest
vitality were at fever pitch. Although stained
glass, the main incentive for our wanderings, is a
beauty whose chief characteristic is calm splendour
nevertheless that same calm splendour came into
being in turbulent times. Perhaps its very beauty
is due to the fact that in those ringing days the
blood of all ran high, and urged to utmost en-
deavour the artist as well as the warrior and
statesman.

Many of those who decide to join us in our

Introduction

stained glass pilgrimage will prefer to travel by rail
between the cities which they select as centres.
These pilgrims will be glad to learn that motors
can be hired in every town of any importance, and
at reasonable rates. To those who elect to desert
the railway in favour of the high-road, we have to
say that, on the whole, Italian roads are good. The
•marked exceptions are in the immediate neighbour-
hood of the Ir/ger cities, where repairs seem never
able to keep up with the rav es of heavy market
carts. But this is true of the environs of cities
everywhere, except those of London, whose bliss-
fully smooth exits are beloved of all motorists. In
Italy you will not encounter the straight "routes
nationales " of France, disdainfiil of grade in their
devotion to "the shortest line between two given
points." Neither will you find the frequent wind-
ings which in England incline one to surmise that
the roads must be put up in papers o'nights, else
the dampness of the climate would take out their
superabundance of curi. Speaking broadly, the
Italian roads are neither so good as the English
(which, by the way, are constantly improving), nor
so bad as the French ones are rapidly becoming.

: ■

■■I

17'

A Stained Glass Tour in Italy

«U«%lL'TX' '"'" °' ^"""' '"" English

• *ne examples are not sufficienHv

T of the m towns of Umbria, ,h. citie, of

"l-ich n.ea„, .t"l,if ""'" "^^ "' "^^•

, «"« of ««„„c memories, which will rejoice him
W^«hi„U„hu„,i„,da,,i„I.„hlve'c::

do „^ r '"'"' T "" ""^ "'"' «° efa» hunting
; "« "> vc to depend on fine weather. I„d„d

r„ ^'""^•^•-"'"''-■oudsob.u^the

le ; H :."'"' "■' "" ™" "■' --^ of ',ving

om= good w,ndow spoiled for ,ou b, , bla.e of

■ght co^ng through it, making its colours look

~p*ry. Soafigfortheweatherlandoff

Introduction

A brief but comprehensive comment upon
Italian glass can be made in two sentences: first,
that it began later and finished earlier than in most
European countries; and second, that it never
yielded itself to the craze for the stiff conventions
and light-admitting possibilities of the so-called
••canopy glass" which throughout the rest of
Europe ran to such an extreme, and was co long
popular. What is meant by canopy glass will be
presently explained in as untechnical a manner as
possible. It is the purpose of this book to persuade
its readers to see and therefore to enjoy the beauty
of stained glass, and not to oppress them with the
technique of its construction.

The earliest sort of stained glass which we shall
observe is of a kind known all over Europe, and
generaUy called "mosaic," because the

, . . „ "Mosaic"'

designs are similar to those used in all «'»»*
early mosaics, and because it too was constructed
by putting together small fragments of coloured
glass. It is only fair to make special mention of
these early windows because our craft was really an
oflTshoot from mosaic making ; instead of affixing to
the waU a mosaic picture the new craft purposed so
placing it in a window embrasure that the light

ii\,

J I

A Stained Glass Tour in Italy

could shine through it, and thereby double the
value of the colour. We cannot lay too much
stress upon this last idea. After all possible has
been said about the design of a window, its surcess,
'n the last analysis, depends almost exclusively on
.ts colour value. Nor must it be forgotten that
this IS the only one of the arts from which we
receive not only the enjoyment which colour can
afford, but also the added pleasure of light stream-
ing through it. Together, they yield a glowing
harmony, each glorifying the other.

In the early days of stained glass there also
existed a contemporary practice of filling an em-
Alabaster brasure with some such translucent sub-
Stance as alabaster. Of this other form
of glazing we shall see several examples during
our travels, and shall learn to love the mysterious
shifting of soft tints, so especially delightfUl at
San Miniato and Orvieto.

Let us put ourselves in the place of a very early
stained glass maker. Granted that the mosaicist
provided him with the design for his picture to be

\ I

Introduction

composed of bits of coloured glass, how was he
going to support in his window frame something
which had hitherto been fastened to the wall?
Some device must be invented to bind these bits
of glass together. In some cases a form of stucco
was used, but to hold the panes securely the stucco
lines had to be too wide, so the glazier hit upon
using strips of lead with long slender channels cut
in each side. These could be wound around
between the bits of glass as demanded by the design,
and the edges of the glass would fit into the slits
on each side of the lead. The lead lines did not
injure the picture, but on the contrary, assisted the
drawing by providing the outlines, etc. The leaden
strips were easy to handle, held the glass securely,
and so helped in the design that they were more or
less lost to view in the picture. Nothing could
have been better. The finished product was lifted
from the flat board on which the bits of glass had
been assembled and leaded together ; it was fastened
into the window embrasure, and there was the
early stained glass window ! In its primitive charm
it yielded a beauty which many believe was never
afterwards surpassed, even during the epoch of the
utmost refinement of the craft. Fortunately, it was

11^

-I

^'It

A Stained Glass Tour in Italy

not necessary specially to educate window designers,
MoMid.t. ^°'' '° '"'de-spread was the art of mosaic
Sz'm. ""^ therefore so nunierous were the artists
engaged in its manufiwture that by borrow-
ing designers of them, stained glass was in its
very beginnings as fiiUy equipped as was Minerva
when she sprang from the forehead of Jove. This
explains why in even the earliest windows the art
seems well advanced and far from crude. Because
designers already existed in plenty, eager to lend
their gifts to this new beauty, stained glass spread
rapidly. The art of mosaic making came into
Italy and Europe from the east and its early
designs naturally arc of the rigid Lyzantine type.
This same eastern influence evidences itself in all
the early windows, and afl=brds proof— if proof be
necessary— that the master of mosaic welcomed this
additional field for the expression of his artistic
spirit.

It is the custom not only to call this early type

mosaic, but also to speak of its windows as « mosaic

medallions";— a glance at them makes

" Mosaic u ■ L

medaiiion " ODvious the rcason for this name. Their
^"* general effect is that of a series of medal-

lion-like enclosures breaking up the whole surface

=3..

Introduction

into little framed Kenes, and thus preventing what
might otherwise be rt monotonous array ot* diminu*
tive persons. In Italy, the shapes of the medallion
frames are more ^ai'ied and fantastic than the sedate
circles, ovals, and squares, so customary in France
and England. The diminutive denizens of these
medallion ^rames are generally depicted in such
quaint detail as to repay close examination. They
revral that the artist was painstaking, and did not
spare time or trouble 'i complet'ng his picture,
for the winding in and about of his slender leaden
strips was very laborious. As is frequently the
case in art, this very labour had its reward, for
it is undeniable that the greater the care shown by
the glazier in drawing his figures with lead lines,
the more effective the completed picture. The
later the glass the less was the attention paid to this
&ct. In most late Renaissance windows the lead
lines were allowed to run nbout at random, thus
becoming a blemish instead of being lost in the
beauty to which they should have contributed.

It is clear that the larger the pieces of glass used
in composing the picture the less of this ^,^,^5^ ^^yj^
laborious lead winding would be required, abandoned.
and for this reason the glazier gradually developed

ii'

■i 1 1

A Stained Gla., Tour i„ lta|„

«wr from the uie of .m.li i

^r him from ,he "1 """ «'•" "•"«■•. '««»«)

".. n,o«ic ' "r""- .^'' """""■"«« "
'■on. of ,fcl° '7 "« -""W i„ ,h. ,i„i„.

now to pamt , , broad colour. -n.
'••I'an p„„,c„ „,„ o colour,. The

">■•» new medium „f "'' "«"'«''« of

'o .dv,„ce our "1ft b? *"""' """• ''"'*^

^■•'Xc^n, or,? t^^He''^ *'«"«■•"
"wtoon,." F„ „f,,„,^. ""• «'""»«y caUed,

did the leadinT "" "^^ **'" •''""ere

' 'Muing pamters thus It^^ .i. • .

'o .Uined gla,,. while i„ the north " *"'"

«>•- tended to monopoi, el :;:::"•"•'

«-cIl a, constructing L win wrSl''"^"'"*
"'-pri.ng that the Italian paint -r,::;::^'::
...„ ^f;^-'««-.<-or,he,po„ej:^^

-.otherXr^i^xrhr^"^™""

^^«x peculiar, e::^:^t,er;r ""^'•

"ver«.ili,y is «ldom given "n ""■"-
'•» protected labour."' ;:r o^" """'' "'""■

satisfied to be a en • v ^^"^ ^<=<^nied

P«nt.ng, sculpture, architecture, and

Introduction

every other manifesution of trtistic talent. In
Florence many of the splendid windows of the
cathedral owe their beauty to men who had also
attained distinction in other arts, like Lorenzo
Ghiberti, Donatello, etc. In our travels, we shall
encounter Michael Angelo as a designer of windows
as weU as a painter, architect, warrior,''and sculptor.
Lorenzo Ghil^erti was not content to be one of
the architects of the Florentine Duomo, but also
contributed much of her stained glass, and had
already won immortal fame at eighteen with his
bronze doors of the Baptistery opposite. When
Leonardo da Vinci was seeking to enter the service
of Francesco Sforza, Duke of Milan, he wrote
a letter in which he urged his case on the ground
that he was net '.'y a p^iiifcr and sculptor but
also an architect and a military, as well as a
hydraulic, engineer !— we also know that he won
wide praise for his success in organizing state
pageants, and drew what is probably the earliest
plan for an aeroplane.

1 i

( s

I fi 1
i

»3

A Stained Glass Tour in Italy

So much for the period known as "mosaic
medallion." It began later in Italy than in the
north, but it also lasted longer. We shall first
see It at Assisi, dating from the end of the 13th
century, nearly two hundred years later than it is
to be found in France and England, and when, in
these two countries, its vogue was waning. On the
other hand, in Italy the mosaic medallions persisted
untd the third quarter of the uth century, for the
wmdows at the Lower Church of Assisi and in the
Cathedrals at Orvieto and Siena date from about
1370. This is much later than they continued in
France and England, where they had long given
place to the craze for canopy windows.

This brings us to the next step in the deve-
lopment of windows and at the same time to the
"Canopy parting of the ways between Italian elass

windows. „„J *u ... r 11 . S'""

and that of all other European countries.

In the north, the so-called canopy window had

begun a .way which was to last nearly two

centuries, but not so in Italy. A canopy window

IS one m which a coloured figure or group appears

instaUed within a more or less elaborate shrine or

niche, which latter is always (out of Italy) glared

in lightly tinted panes showing littl

e or no colour.

Introduction

It may be laid down as a general rule that the
Italian never really accepted the light-tinted, con-
ventional canopy of the north. But it is also true
that about his figures he often placed a bit of
architectural detail, though with him this archi-
tecture was as rich in colour as the garments of
his saint. Thus in Italy, the canopy is part of
the picture, and does not degenerate into a mere
frame as it did in the north. Now there problem of
was a reason for this difference, to under- '""mination.
stand which let us first consider what happened
in northern Europe. The early mosaic windows
required in their construction such a multiplicity of
lead lines, and their glass was of such deep hues,
that together they greatly diminished the light of
the interiors. In some places, as at Amiens and
Chartres, the monks deliberately knocked out
enough of the coloured glass to admit sufficient
light to enable them to read the music of the
Mass. This need for light was brought home to
the glazier, and he solved the problem in an
ingenious manner. Even on the earliest windows
there sometimes appeared small yellow tabernacles
enclosing the figves, and he began his campaign
for more illumination by enlarging the space allotted

♦ u

A Stained Glass Tour in Italy

to these tabernacles which he glazed in delicate
t.nts. Although this expedient proved successful,
he earned his success to an extreme. Lucky chance
a.ded him, for early in the r4th century it was
accidentally discovered that if a solution of silver
were dropped or smeared on white glass and then
exposed to the fire it produced a permanent golden
stam on the surface. This greatly facilitated the
construction of canopies about the figures, because
.t was no longer necessary to lead together bits
of yellow glass to represent architecture, for yellow
could be stained on white panes wherever desired.
To such an extreme was this style carried that in
some French windows fully four-fifths of the whole
surface is given over to canopy framing and only
one-fifth left to the saint, located in the midst of
all this shimmering magnificence. In the cloudy
northern lands this freer admission of light was
expedient and valuable, but in sunny Italy it was
not necessary. No demands were made upon the
!Z^ ^^I'^n gla^ier for more light, and perhaps
cajiopics in ^r this reason, if for no other, he never
"^- went canopy mad. A few of these light-

admitting sentry boxes are to be seen in Italy, but
only a few, and they are confined to the closing

Introduction

'cars of the 14th century. In northern Europe
the simulated architecture of these shrine-like
enclosures was of course Gothic during the Gothic
period, but changed to Classical when the Renai
sance won over the architect to the re-contemplation
and copying of early Greek and Latin edifices. It
is only fair to admit on behalf of the northerner
that not being blessed with the constant Italian
sunshine, he needed this light-admitting device so
that his interiors should not be too much obscured
by the coloured windows. When, in 1632, Henry
Sherfield, the Recorder of Salisbury, destroyed the
Creation window in St. Edmund's Church, he
alleged as his reason for so doing that it was " very
darksome whereby such as sit near the same cannot
read in their books." It is satisfactory to record
that he was imprisoned, fined ;^5oo, and made '.o
apologise to the Bishop of Salisbury ! Before leaving
this subject of church illumination, we may remark
that during the mosaic period there was a marked
difference between the French preference for
coloured glass and the more frequent use in cloudy
England of uncoloured pattern windows called
"grisaille." Italian churches demanded less light
than French ones, but England needed even more

17 c

ill!

1 1 jlM

; : ij:

■ If'' S

rt:

A Stained Glass Tour in Italy

light than France, and therefore the English glazier
intelligently or intuitively (who shall say which ?)
inclined as much to grisaille as did the Italian to
rich colour.

There is another convincing explanation for the

rich hues of the Italian canopies' architecture. To

eyes accustomed lo the dull srey stone

Rich colour o /

of Italian of northern cathedrals there comes as a

canopies.

surprise the kaleidoscope of coloured
marbles to be seen throughout Italy, and especially
in Florence, Orvieto, and Siena ; — what is more
natural than that the glazier should reproduce their
warm tones in the edifices depicted on his windows ?
But whatever be the reason, the result is undeniably
delightful. Certain examples in Bologna, Lucca,
and Florence must be seen to enable one to realize
the deep, rich brilliancy of the canopy as developed
under Italian skies by men quick to grasp the
possibilities of the medium in which they were i
working. We will remember therefore that the
Gothic canopy of yellow and grey appeared but
briefly in Italy, and was then squeezed in between
a late lingering survival of the mosaic medallion,
and an early appearance of a long-persisting classical

canopy done, not in

yellow
i8

stain, but in rich

Introduction

pot-metal colour. So justly successful in popular
esteem was this strong-toned canopy that it lasted
all through the 15th century, and practically con-
cluded the course of the Italian spirit in glass.

We say " Italian spirit," for the last period
of glass making in the peninsula was but a
brief revival at the beginning of the ,4^^ cemur>-
1 6th century efFec'ed by the trans- s'"'-
planted Frenchman, William de Marc'.Uat and
his school, and thus received its impetus rather
from without than from within. Although he
learned his rich colouring in Italy, his style was
undoubtedly French. It must, however, be
admitted that nothing so fine in Renaissance glass
is to be seen out of Italy as William's windows
at Arezzo. Now let us consider this ultimate
stage of the evolution of our art, when the
glazier frankly becomes secondary to cne painter,
which development in Italy took place during
the first years of the i6th century. His em-
brasures have gradually become wider, and arc
now filled with broad pictures made up of

I' 1

A Stained Glass Tour in Italy

larger pieces of glass than were formerly used.
Perspective begins to appear and at once enhances
the general effect. Nor docs the artist now
hesitate to paint his picture on these larger pieces,
rather than have it made up for him of different
bits of glass already coloured and assembled in
accordance with his designs. This painting, or
rather enamelling, was effected by disposing
colour on white glass which when fired retained
the tones and tints thus lent it. Sometimes this
method proved unfortunate ; at Bologna we shall
see some windows whose effect has been seriously
damaged by the peeling off of portions of the
enamelled colour.

This reference to the changed method of
colouring that came into vogue in Italy with
Colouring ^^^ arrival of the i6th century will
perhaps excuse a modest infraction of
our rule to avoid technicalities. Let us explain
m a few words the successive manners by which
the glazier imparted colour to his glass. In the
earliest days dye was put into the pot in which

Introduction

the liquid glass was being made, and the product
was called "pot-metal" glass; it was ..p^,^^j^,
obviously coloured all through its mass. «»^°"'""
The surface of the windows were not as yet
obscured by paint, and it is to this fact that
they owe their delightful brilliancy. The use
of a little pigment was permitted to delineate
the faces, and sometimes to mark the folds of
garments, etc. Another reason for the brilliancy
of pot-metal windows is the uneven diffusion of
the colouring matter throughout each piece of
glass so treated. This made impossible the dull
even tone which so often mars modern work.
The early glazier was keenly alive to the value
of this unevenness of tint, and availed himself of
it both in his shading and to strengthen his
masses. One of the great charms of Italian glass
is that it clung to the use of pot-metal colour-
ing much longer than was the fashion elsewhere
in Europe. There was thus prolonged in it the
life of the rich, deep tone, undimmed by surface
daubing, which, although it assisted the designer,
robbed the glazier of his richest effects. . ,

o several coats

Before leaving pot-metal colouring it is °*'f'>'o">'-
interesting to note a device by means of which

t ."!

"mgm

MMtfi

A Stained Glass Tour in Italy

the glazier learned to enrich his palette. Sup-
pose he wanted a warm purple, he first dipped
his blow-pipe into red pot-metal fluid, and next
into blue. When the bubble was blown, cut,
and flattened out, the glass would prove to be
blue on one side and red on the other, but held
up to the light, the combination would yield the
desired purple. In the same manner blue and
yellow gave a fine green, red and yellow a deep
orange, etc. To such an extent was this re-
dipping carried that in France there are to be
seen examples with as many as five different
layers. This, of course, was still within the
province of pot- metal colouring. Now for some-
Yeiiow ^'^'"g "cw. We have already mentioned
""'"• that in the early part of the 14th

century it was accidentally discovered that if
oxide of silver were dropped on glass it would,
when fired, give a rich, gold tint called "stain."
This at once sprang into great favour, and was
useful for tinting the hair of angels, decorating
garments, etc., and particularly assisted the
development of the canopy. It was a great
convenience to be able to stain any desired
portion of the piece of glass instead of having

H I

Introduction

laboriously to lead in some yellow glass at that
particular point We shall observe this yellow
stain much used in Italian bcrc'ers. The honour
of discovering this stain io claimed for manj
glaziers, and although the Italians stoutly insisted
that its discoverer was St. J&Ties of Ulm, so long
a resident at Bologna, it is undoubtedly true
that it was in use fully a century before he was
born. No matter who deserves the glory of
this useful discovery, it had a marked effect on
the development of the craft, because it made
easy many of its details. Even art is some-
times guilty of proceeding in the line of least
resistance !

The last manner of colouring glass was that
of enamelling the surface, to which process we
have already referred. When this was

r 11 J • Enamelling

carerully done, it undoubtedly produced colour on
pleasing effects, but unfortunately it was ^*'''
too often employed carelessly ; so much so that
frequently one has cause to regret that enamelling
ever came into vogue at all.

To recapitulate, the story of how glass was
coloured b^ins with pot-metal dyes, and goes
on to the re-dipping of the same, then to the

A Stained Glass Tour in Italy

painting on the surface of pot-metal gkss, and
closes with enamelling of the surface. Fortu-
natcly for Italy the earliest and best method
persisted long and died hard.

Purposely, we have not, up to this point,
attempted to divide Italian glass into periods or
Diviiion epochs. This division into periods is

into DMiotls. , . , r « ■'

one which -.-st be effected very differ-
ently in the different countries of Europe, for glass
not only developed by diverging paths, but also at
different moments in the lives of the natims. In
England, it is usual to subdivide it unde: t,. .cad-
ings generally employed for English architecture,
viz. .-Early English, Decorated, Perpendicular,
and lastly Renaissance or i6th century. German
gl. s derived its epochs from the differing styles of
the design— Romanesque, Geometric, Interpene-
trated, and Renaissance (i6th century). In France,
it happens that the epochs are so neariy co-exten-
sive with the centuries that it is more con-enient to
call their examples 12th, 13th, 14th, 15th, and i6th
century windows. In Italy also we shall be able to

Introduction

employ the same subdivision by centuries, but it wiL
only be necessary to provide for three epochs,
naming them respectively after the 14th, 15th, and
1 6th centuries. We must be careful to r^

*^ *•" Companion

notice that in Italy the two periods called '•y """'"«•
14th century and 15th century, show a very
different product from the same subdivisions in
France. Italian glass began later than French,
ripened much faster, and finished earlier. The
Italian 14th century glass will be found to be
almost exclusively of the mosaic medallion type,
similar to that which flourished in France up to
about the middle of the 13th century. This com-
parison at once shows how much later was the
Italian than the Frencn development of the craft.
Italian 15th century glass is quite different from
anything produced at any time in France. Instead
of the light-tinted canopy windows *^'>^ in France,
flourished throughout both the i^ . and 15th
centuries, we have in Italy, during the 15th cen-
tury, a vigorous and long-continued old age of
rich pot-metal glass, sometimes employed in storied
windows of many figures, but chiefly in single
figure subjects whose architectural background,
although frequently in the form of a Renaissance

«5

■|(

!,4f

A Stained Glass Tour in Italy
canopy, is aJw.7, composed of such deep tones as
to be part of the picture itself instead of merely a
frame thereof. We shall find this Renaissance archi-
tecture firmly established in Italy early in the 15th
century, although it did not reach France until the
Renaimncc ^^*^- ^^ "lust not forget that the
j;;=K- i" Renaissance originated in Italy and thence
spread into Europe, being carried into
France by the art trophies taken thither by the
soldiers of Louis XII and Francis I. This means
that a window which in France would be unhesita-
tmgly dated ,6th century, because of its Classical
or Renaissance design, would in an Italian church
undoubtedly be of the ,5th Century. So rapid
was th,s development in Italy that the change from
Gothic to Renaissance was effected much more
quickly than further north, while for some time
they existed side by side. In the predella below
one of Benozzo Gozzoli's pictures in the Vatican
Gallery, one scene shows a Gothic interior, and
another a purely Classical one. By the end of the
t5th century, Italian glass had shot its bolt
Indeed, when Pope Julius II wished to glaze
the windows of the Vatican and certain Roman
churches, he had to send to France for glaziers.

Introduction

The genius of William de Marcillat, one of those
who came in obedience to the papal summons,
caused the ashes of Italian glass-making to glow,
but even he could not rekindle it into the glorious
fire of the previous century. William and his
school may be described as the splendid sunset of
Italian glazing.

So runs the tale of Italian glass — a late begin-
ning and prolonged existence of mosaic glass, a brief
appearance but never a vogue of yellow Gothic
canopies, followed by a long and happy reign of
the Classical canopy, done in such rich pot-metal
colours as to incorporate it in the picture instead
of isolating it as a frame. Then seemingly comes
the end of all things in glass, when lo ! William de
Marcillat and his men snatch up the fallen torch,
but, although it burns brightly in their hands, it
is soon extinguished.

iU' H)

And now to consider where we shall see the
windows of the three great Italian periods. Mosaic
medallion glass begins at Assisi during the closing
years of the 13th century and is best studied at

A Stained Glass Tour in Italy

that place. It lasted until the third quarter of
Where. the 14th centufjr, and its concluding

abouti of I . , r , — "S

glories (of about 1370) are to be seen

lulian
glasi.

not only at Assisi but also at Orvieto
and Siena. At that time, by way of conclud-
ing the 14th century, there appeared a few
examples of canopy windows done in the manner
of northern Europe, but so few are they that
they do not deserve to be dignified by giving
their name to an epoch. These intrusions of a
northern style are exemplified in the nave of the
Duomo at Florence, in San Petronio at Bologna
and at the Certosa in the Val d'Ema. The
15th century produced windows of two varieties
those which told stories, and those of the pot-
metal canopies. The Storied Windows are to be
seen chiefly at Milan and Pisa, although there are
also examples in Florence, Venice, etc. The pot-
metal canopy can best be studied in Florence,
Bologna and Lucca. Lastly, we come to the i6th
century windows, the work of William de MarciUat
and his school ; these begin with him, and end
with the work of his favourite pupil. Pastorino,
whose masterpiece is in the cathedral at Siena
These ,6th century windows are best at Arezzo^

^^**»«-*i-iiiiSiia«.=*^

Introduction

but can also be enjoyed in Rome, Perugia, Siena,
and Milan.

I !.

Now for a word about some unique and purely
Italian manifestations of our craft. We have already
mentioned one of them when we told how
the Italian preferred to make his canopies of haifan'"
rich with pot-metal tones instead of obse- "'"*'
quiously adopting the pale, light-admitting canopies
of his northern neighbours. This produced at once
a marked contrast between northern and southern
windows, as all who have seen them will testify.

Even more special is his acceptance and treat-
ment of round embrasures. In the north we saw
and admired the development of the rose window
and the wheel window, and could not fail to observe
that in them the architect and the glazier always
worked hand in hand, the former providing the
traceries or spokes, and the latter filling the open
spaces between them. In Italy the glazier had the
round aperture all to himself. He seemed actually
to prefer it left a simple bull's eye, so that he might
fill it with one great picture. In Italian it is

. ,}

rai

III

A Stained Glass Tour in Italy

commonly caUed an "occhio" or "eye." Sometimes,
as in the cathedral at Florence, the architect has
provided the stone spokes so usual in the north,
but has set them so far out from the surface
of the glass that they are not noticeable from
the interior. Thus they help to decorate the ex-
terior of the building without intruding upon the
surface of the glass picture viewed from within.
In Florence alone there are thirteen of these
splendid blossoms of Italian glazing. They are
generally to be found high up in the western front
of churches. There are also a number of instances,
notably at Bologna, of small bull's eye windows used
to light chapels, etc. The Italian occhio is a charming
manifestation, unfortunately rare in other countries,
and yet from the standpoint of both the architect
and the glazier so simple and graceful that one
comes to wonder that it was not adopted elsewhere.
Another method of admitting the light while
keeping out the weather was that of using trans-
lucent slabs of different hued alabaster. This was
fairly common in Italy, but is almost never seen
elsewhere. The peculiar charm of these windows
is due to the way in which their colour shifts and
changes with the varying light.

I '(-■>i;;nftl I>v I'iii
Cathclr.J. N..l.f
Kur.)p<-. Tlif llaliahs »li
space. (Si-f /tajir S(ti

I Vl'li' \I ()( cmo. OR KVE \VI

oi..r,,,-ii,,. diipof .

stTiis ■<( vi'vtn !■(

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jlivtin.; thrir .;i.

i|>- 1 • a .11. iii..i

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" 1

IBj

f «1

Introduction

Italian glass is fortunate in the simplicity that
generally characterizes its designs. It rejoices in a
" happy emptiness " — to borrow a felicitous phrase
anent Giotto from Bernard Berenson, deft with his
English as any of his beloved painters with their
brushes. Simple also are the shapes of Italian
embrasures, but this time simplicity does not evoke
our approval, for we cannot help thinking with
wistful longing of the elaborate stone traceries and
pleasing groups of lancets so familiar to us in
northern Europe.

After seeing many Italian windows it suddenly
strikes the observer that almost none of them bear
the images of their donors, a regular 'practice else-
where in Europe, which in France during the
1 6th century became almost obnoxious, so con-
spicuous were the kneeling figures of the generous
individuals. Indeed, in some instances, as at Brou
or at Montmorency, it is difficult to conclude which
is the more important, the donor or the religious
subject of the window ! No explanation is offered
for this modesty on the part of the patrons of
Italian glass. All we have to do is to record the
fact, and that too with a sigh of relief.

Another peculiarity of the craft in Italy is the
31

jK i

A Stained Glass Tour in Italy

al ro: entire absence of that type of uncoloured
but patterned windows so common elsewhere, and
generally caUed "grisaiUe." There is a little of
this to be seen in the upper church at Asaisi, but
that is about all. The reason for this absence of
gnsadle is not far to seek~the problem of sufficient
lUummation never plagued the glazier of sunny
Italy, and as he had no need for the light-admitting
grisaille, he left it to his brothers in the cloudy
northlands, and went happily on reveUing in his
gorgeous pot-metal dyes.

In view of the high standard reached by Italian
glass, and its undoubted popularity, it seems in-
D«truction explicable at first blush, that there is not

01 glass. ^^ r • ,

more of it to be seen to-day. The first
explanation that occurs to one is that great quantities
must have Men victim to the stress of war and
time. Ample encouragement is found for this
theory when we read of the ravages of artillery
salvos at Bologna, or of the seizure of the lead
from Roman windows to manufacture bullets, or of
the varied onslaughts suffered at Assisi from such

Introduction

widely difFcring destructive agencies as earthquakes
and stone-throwing neighbours. But a further in-
vestigation of how much harm was thus actually
done reveals that, although the destruction at Rome
was undoubtedly wholesale, both at Bologna and
Assisi, thanks to a system of constant repairing, we
have been deprived of only a surprisingly small pro-
portion of the original total. No, in the matter of
destroyed windows, Italy has suffered far less than
the rest of Europe. War has seemed reverently
to avoid the fragile beauty of her windows, and she
has never been afflicted with those periods of
boorish indifference to, or ignorance of matters
artistic, which from time to time did such irre-
parable damage north of the Alps. The real reason
for the comparative paucity of stained glass in Italy
is the greater interest there displayed in painting
church interiors in fresco. Coloured glass, by
reducing the amount of light, tended to obscure
the sacred stories pictured on the walls, and as
Italy is par excellence the home of fresco painting,
stained glass was never so widely used there as in
countries where the walls were decorated less with
colour than with sculpture.

If any of our readers care to go more deeply

A Stained Glass Tour in Italy

into the technicalities of window construction, we
would recommend Lewis Day's "Windows of
Stained Glass," as the best book in English, and
"Vitraux," by Olivier Merson, as the best in
French. We trust that the reader has survived our
brief lecture upon the subject, and we faithfully
promise to abstain from technicalities in the remain-
ing pages of this book.

1^1 ii

ITINERARY

ETTING forth from Rome we shall first
proceed northerly over the rolling cam-
pagna and into the hills 140 kilometres
to Orvieto, and from thence branch off in a
north-easterly direction, 160 kilometres to Perugia.
This lofty town should be made the centre from
which to visit Assisi, 46 kilometres to the east,
because the latter place does not possess a first-
class hostelry. From Perugia we sUrt north-west
up the Umbrian plain, stopping after 1 20 kilometres
it steep Cortona, then going on in a more northerly
irection 54 kilometres to Arezzo. If we are in
leisurely mood an agreeable side trip may be
ken from Girtona by visiting Monte San Savino,
5 kilometres to the west, then 7 kilometres south
Lucignano, and lastly back 20 kilometres to
ortona. Si^ina may also be visited, lying about
3 kilometres north-west from Arezzo. From
rezzo we drop down into the valley of the Arno,

il
111

^11 >

A Stained Glass Tour in Italy

and follow the curve of this river 87 kilometres
north-west to Florence. This city will be our
headquarters for visiting San Miniato (one of its
suburbs), the Certosa ii the Val d'Ema, 5 kilo-
metres distant, and Prates 19 kilometres to the
north-west. Leaving Florence we sweep off to
the west 77 kilometres to Lucca, then down 23
kilometres to Pisa, and next 100 kilometres to
Siena, lying south-east. From Siena one can go
85 kilometres south to Grosetto, but this trip
is only mentioned and not advised. Siena lies
67 kilometres south of Florence and to go from
Siena to Bologna (170 kilometres) we must pass
through Florence on the way. This fiict may
influence some automobilists to retain Florence as
a h'^dquarters for visiting Lucca, Pisa, and Siena.
If this be done it is possible to see the glass of
Lucca and Pisa in one day, although it will make
a round trip of 182 kilometres, and one's view of
both Lucca and Pisa will perforce be unfortunately
curtailed. Siena is 67 kilometres from Florence,
and fi'om Florence on to Bologna is 103 kilometres.
After visiting Bologna one can either go north-east,
165 kilometres to Venice and thence west 214
kilometres to Milan, or Milan can be visited first

IlLr

I i ; .

Itinerary

id Venice reserved for the last. From Milan the
tosa of Pavia is distant 30 Liometres south, and
5nno, 25 kilometres to the north-west.
At the back of this book will be found an index
af towns showing the epochs of their windows.

ill

§\

;fi*'

\B\

'ir'

ROME

THE most impressive and inspiring
spectacle that has come down to us
out of history is the Roman Forum.
In it there stood the Golden Milestone
from which were measured distances upon all the
roads that led from this central point out to the
boundaries of the Empire, which is but another
way of saying— to the confines of :,.e then known
world. Since "all roads lead to Rome," there is
no more obvious point at •. mch to give tryst to
our stained glass pilgrims, and it is in Rome there-
fore that we will await the assembling of our
company. They will be sworn to see, and thus
brought to love the glass we shall show them, but
at the same time all shall be free, nay, encouraged,
to drink deep draughts of those other artistic
delights which this fascinating land of Italy offers
to those who wander through it. The shimmering
beauty of our windows shall be as a string of pearls

Rome

for each traveller, but he m.y, at hi. pleasure, hang
upon u as pendant, such other jeweUed memorie.
as his fiincy seizes during our travels. Certain it is
that at the end of our journey hi, memory will be
festooned with the pearls that we have promi,ed-a
senes of never-to-be-forgotten glimpses into the
beauty of blended colour and sunlight that stained
glass, and nothing else can give him.

Roman history reeks with « war and rumours
of war." but no group of its students has been ,o
despoiled of its special prey as that which loves old
glass. Once there were many splendid windows
throughout this ancient city, but when it wa,
besieged in 1527 and the munitions of war ran
low. the stained glass contained so much lead-
vitally precious for the manufecture of bullets-that
utUity outweighed beauty, and the windows were
broken up. Before we consider the few remains
yet to be seen of its ancient windows, let us. as is
but fitting and proper in so historical a city, turn
our attention to the history of our craft, for nowhere
else will the records teU so continuous or so
interesting a story of its development. We know
that the early designers of glass were borrowed
from the parent art of mosaic. From its earliest

:ii

ih'

iH^

A Stained Glass Tour in Italy

chapels up to its architectural apotheosis, St. Peter's,
Rome possesses an unbroken exhibit of the develop-'
ment of mosaic, whose designs show a steady march
forward from the crude early Christian symbolism
until they finally blossom out into the imperishable
reproduction at St. Peter's of the genius of Raphael
and a score of Italy's greatest painters. From this
very art of mosaic there branched forth at an early
date the decoration of window spaces in colour.
AH that was needed to emulate the success of the
mosaicist was to do for a window what the mosaicist
had done for his wall-adorn it with a picture made
up of bits of parti-coloured glass. It was Emperor
Constantine that brought this craft to Rome from
Constantinople, where it had long been practised
in Santa Sofia and other churches. From his time
down all the ages the records of Rome show that
the coloured glazing of windows was understood,
and was steadily developing as an art. In the
catacombs there have been found fragments of
painted glass showing the Good Shepherd and other
symbols so dear to the primitive Christians. Several
early Christian writers speak of stained glass pictures
as not uncommon at the end of the 5th century.
When the capital of ihe Empire was transferred to

I'll

Tim^

.i^-..K./n>.ira«i„s,;?',;;:\!';;;„:^T ^>- '•a'i.-s. rome

Rome

Byzantium, art languished in Italy, and the great
church of Santa Sofia became the world's magnet for
artists, and the glories of its glass have been told
by many writers. Then came the fall of the
Empire and the inrush of the barbarians. Under
Leo III, at the beginning of the 9th century, the
art of the glazier greatly advanced. In the middle
of that century we read that Benedict III decorated
with coloured glass the apse of the " church across
the Tiber."

An important step was taken when, in 1058,
Abbot Desiderio summoned glaziers from Con-
stantinople to decorate (among others) the church
of Monte Cassino. It would seem, however, that
no roots were struck in Italian soil by these
Byzantines. We read that they remained in that
neighbourhood, but neither they nor ti.eir craft
ventured to branch out. Now came the moment
when the painting of walls in fresco -seized upon
the popular imagination, and so engrossed it
that we hear of no revival of stained glass until
the latter part of the 13th century, when it shows
itself in the Upper Church at Assisi. Italian
architecture had meanwhile been taking a step
very favourable to the craft, in that the Cistercians

i
I

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A Stained Glass Tour in Italy

brought Gothic to that country in the first
quarter of the 13th century, and we know the
favouring influence that Gothic everywhere exerted
on behalf of stained glass. All of the Italian glass
earlier than that to be seen at Assisi is lost to us.
It is at Rome that we must study its history, and
yet strangely enough, Rome is the city which has
lost the most glass, and the one in which its
absence is most to be lamented. Storehouse as it
is of the world's ar*, it is for us singularly painful
that the necessities of war should have been so
peculiarly blasting to the art in which we are
interested. We have a right to protest against
this evil fortune, for we know that all France and all
Italy have been fought over time and time again,
and yet elsewhere than in Rome the destruction of
war has proved miraculously indulgent to stained
glass, notwithstanding that it is the most fragile of
art products. In Rome alone this grace was denied.
It was just before the calamitous year of 1527,
when war's necessities requisitioned the lead in
Rome's windows, that these very windows had
reached their crowning glory, for it was in the
first years of the i6th century that the monk,
William de Marcillat, whom we shall learn to

Rome

revere at Arezzo, carried his art to a perfection in
Rome that it never reached elsewhere. Bramante
was authorized by Pope Julius II to send to
France for the most skilful glass artists obtainable
in order to awake the traditions of an art then
utterly dead in Italy. In obedience to this august
summons there came a certain master, Claude, and
in his train came William. Hardly had Claude
arrived in Rome when he fell a victim to over-
indulgence at a banquet, and William stood alone
at the open door of opportunity. Alas, to-day we
must be content with reading of his splendid
triumphs at Rome, and it is to Arezzo that we
must go to judge what his Roman glass must have
been. The glory of these Roman windows was
short-lived, for they went the way of all the others
during the siege of 1527 — two years before
William's death. Thus perished in the preparation
for war what had hitherto survived war's fiercest
outburst Two examples alone of his Roman work
survive, and their preservation is probably due to
their obscure position behind the high altar in
Santa Maria del Popolo. These charming windows
are wide and low, and from the centre of each a
semi-circle arises accommodating the insignia of

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A Stained Glass Tour in Italy

that great patron of art, Julius II. Each is divided
into six scenes from biblical history, arranged in two
tiers. Although these remains are not extensive
they show the artist at his best, not only in the
adjustment of his scenes, but also in the masterly
combination of strong colours with deliciously soft
greens and neutral tints. His small landscapes,
whether depicted in the open or shown through
doorways, are so aUuring as to make you feel
inclined to defer your studies and walk abroad in
them.

In the chapel of the Caetani family at Santa
Pudenziana is another window worth seeing, if only
to show that the Italian glazier continued to be
painstaking at a time when his French contem-
porary, to avoid the labour demanded by careful
leading, was turning more and more to the easier
method of painting his glass. The subject is
Christ crucified, against a background of colourless
panes surrounded by a rich yellow stain border. At
the foot of the cross the housetops of distant
Jerusalem are carefUUy delineated in lead lines. In
France they would have been painted only, as one
sees in the i6th century landscapes at Conches and
elsewhere. The same trouble is taken with the

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Rome

small cherubs who hold lighted tapers at each side,
and also with the blue garland at the top— very
agreeable and equally significant.

When we wrench ourselves from the fascination
that Rome has and always has had for all the world,
it will be but the memory of the history of glass
and few reminiscences of windows that we can take
with us; but after all, is not history the most
potent spell that Rome exerts ? If you doubt it,
stand for a while looking down on the mutely
eloquent ruins of the Forum, and there will come
pouring in a flood of memories from every point of
geography and every episode of history, returning
as in duty bound to the Golden Milestone from
which their distances have all been measured. For
the writer, Rome has always seemed the seated
figure of an aged man about whose knees climb
children of to-day, their prattlings in no wise
disturbing his absent-minded musings upon the
destinies of nation after nation which have passed
before his eyes. The Moses of Michael Angcio
is the type of man we mean, but the Moses is an
incomplete expression of our thought in that his
brawny knees support no symbols that link antiquity
with the happy, careless life of the Rome of to-day.

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ORVIETO

RISING sheer on every side from the valleys
below is the imposing bulk of a huge
rock, and on its top securely rests the
ancient city of Orvieto. In modern
times access has been made easy by a funicular
railway, which, with seven minutes of monotonous
cogging, carries one comfortably to the top. Not
so easy or expeditious was the ascent when His
Holiness, Clement VII, disguised as a gardener
to escape from his enemies in Rome (ninety miles
away to the south), had to prod his mule up the
long steep zig-zag by which the roadway accom-
plishes the weary climb. The walls of the town,
built to the very edge of the straight-faced rock,
seem so high above us in the air and so secure in
their remoteness as to have reaUy been unnecessary
to the safety of those who dwelt within them. The
views from these waUs are extensive and delightful,
even more so than from any of the other Italian
hiU cities. Once back, however, from the outlook

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Orvicto

afforded by these walls, and the disUnce above and
away from the world is forgotten. One is trans-
ferred into an Italian city not unlike many of its
sisters, and entirely devoid of that sense of aloof-
ness which a peep downward from its walls is sure
to give. The name «« Orvieto," corrupted as it is
from the Latin urbs vetus (the ancient city), carries
in itself the tale of its antiquity. Indeed, the
obvious security of this unusual eminence of tawny
tufii must have commended it from the earliest
times to those who needed security first, and « the
pursuit of happiness " afterwards. Here there was
built a great cathedral in memory of the miracle
of Bolsena, when a doubting priest was convinced
by the bleeding of the Commumon Wafer of t!ie
doctrine of transubstontiation. A rarely beautiful
cathedral it is too, with a beauty that changes with
the hour of the day. Under the brilliant noonday
sun tht magnificent western facade rairiy sparkles
in the glories of its rich mosaics. When the twi-
light time comes on it brings with it into thr old
marbles a delicious honey brown. The shadows
it then lends to the web of sculptured Bible legends
that hang like lace across ihe lower reaches of the

f-jade, endow them with

a life that they lack

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A Stained Glass Tour in Italy

during the brighter hours of the day. Nor has
the interior less to invite our notice, ou. admira-
tion, and our study. From the right transept we
enter a chapel whose frescoes were begun oy Fra
Angelico and finished by the masterpieces of
Signorelli. No one who has seen these latter will
ever forget the haunting face of the Anti-Christ
preaching his false doctrine under the whispered
prompting at his ear of the embodiment of evil
thought — a horrible and persistent memory, one
which has preached its silent sermon to worshippers
in this chapel for over five hundred years.

About us in the church proper is spread a two-
fold reward for our visit — two-fold, because not
only have we in the nave a glorious series of ala-
baster windows, but in the square-ended apse there
is stained glass in the two fine rosaces, and a lofty
eastern embrasure of the mosaic period that can vie
with the many splendid examples of its form to be
seen in England. In addition to these there is a
handsome wheel wmdow high up in the western
front, which, for Italy, is unusual in having the
spaces between the spokes glazed as in northern
Europe, instead of having the glass set well back
from the stone-work of the wheel so as to give an

4«

Orvieto

unbroken round surface for a picture. Perhaps the
reason for the different treatment here is that no
picture is attempted, its place being taken by a
kaleidoscopic pattern in low blues and soft greens.
The rosaces pierced in the northern and southern
choir walls are also unusual, seven round openings
filled with busts being preferred to the usual large
buU's eye devoted to one picture. The explanation
for this divergence from the expected may be
that because these high-placed rosaces cannot be
seen from a great distance, but only from across
the width of the choir, this broken-up treatment
of the embrasure serves better than would a large
picture. Be that as it may, the result is pleasing,
and that is what most concerns you and me.

Not only does the great east window appeal to
us by reason of its wealth of mosaic medaUions
("'- ! too rare in Italy), but also and chiefly because
o; its great beauty. Its four tall lancets contain
forty-four small mosaic pictures, the medallion
border which encloses each being of the same
design, somewhat resembling the top of a billiard
table with pockets at the ends and in the middle
of the long sides. The deft interweaving of
the strap-like borders of these medallions repays

49 E

A Stained Glass Tour in Italy

attention, and is so reminiscent of some in the
lower church at Assisi, and of the great east window
at Siena, that we are not surprised to learn that the
same glaziers worked at all three places. Each of
the four lancets has a rich narrow border, and
ubove are singularly graceful tracery lights, finally
tapering to a point at the top. Much clear blue
is used throughout the composition, even serving
as a background to fifteen of the small scenes, but
monotony of tone is avoided and warmth imparted
by ten other backgrounds being red, and ten more
red with gold fleur-de-lis. This red is even now
deep and rich, but it is still too early to find the
correspondingly deep blue so generally used after
the opening of the 1 5th century. One notices the
absence of green, what little there is being light
in tint. Whenever an interior scene is depicted
the architecture is only suggested. In the same
spirit of suggestion a single diminutive tree serves
to locate other scenes out-of-doors.

But we must resist the temptation to devote
all our time and appreciation even to so effective
an example of the mosaic period as the great
cast window. Returning to the nave we shall
find spread out before us a magnificent row of

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Orvieto

twenty-four embrasures filled with alabaster, a sub-
stance of which such delightful use was made in
Italy. Nor is it, as one might fear, a monotonous
beauty, for in no two localities shall we find it
of the same colour. Here it is a mellow yellowish
or orange brown, sufficiently fluctuating in its
shading as to lend a sense of movement to the
colouring. The windows are mostly to be found
in the small bowed recesses which line the sides
of the nave, sometimes two lancets together, some-
times singly. They are also placed above the
two smaU side portals, and over the ihree entrances
that pierce the west front, the central one being a
particularly graceful interlacing of eight divisions
ending in a point at the top. We may remark
in passing that it is a pity that they fiUed in the
upper parts of the nave lights with modern glass.

I wonder what it is that causes one to linger
so long over alabaster windows, lacking as they
do the story and the variety of tints to be seen
in stained glass. Is it the change constantly pro-
duced in them by shifting light which excites our
curiosity and delays our departure? Strange as
it may seem in the teUing, the more the afternoon
sun ftils the richer seems to glow the light in

III

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A Stained Glass Tour in Italy

and through the alabaster. The writer will never
forget a certain afternoon in April when he watched
the twilight deepen in Orvieto Cathedral, and saw
the light slowly diminish until all architectural
detail and all sound seemed to ^de away, and to
leave behind them only the faint glow and harmony
of the windows.

S :

PERUGIA

^ROM that perch far aloft— the little square
before the Prefecture, what a wide sweep
the eye covers, far beyond and far below !
The green slopes drop away and still
Bp away until they are lost in the spacious
pkm across which we spy a grey patch upon the
iistant Apennines-— Assisi I The eye wandering
an happens upon a slender ribbon of silver, the
jinnings of the Tiber— « Father Tiber, to
[whom all Romans pray." Below us on every side
^ies undulating greenness, rising every now and
lagain into the small knob-like hillocks so often
jseen in the backgrounds of Perugino, the great
Ipainter who took his name from the apex of
[the landscape he knew and loved so well. The
[steepness of the incline which one has to mount to
[reach this lofty city is continued and sweeping rather
than abrupt as at Orvieto, or irregular as at Siena.
JBut Perugia is loftier, and more remote from its
[surrounding landscape, than any of the other hill

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A Stained Glass Tour in Italy

towns. Of Perugino, it must be said that those
wishing to know him well must not rest content
with his easel pictures hung in so many galleries,
nor even with his fi-escoes in the Sistine Chapel,
where his personality is subordinated to a general
scheme of decoration ; — one must mount up to
his eyrie-like city and see what he has done to
make the charming, nest-like hall of its Chamber of
Commerce unique among mercantile council rooms.
The ceiling and walls of this modest-sizeu chamber
are covered with frescoes of such excellence as to
prove that here his genius and his local pride worked
hand in hand. The studied calm of Perugino's
pictures becomes all the more striking when one
learns of the riotous scenes amidst which the painter
lived and worked, for Perugia has the bloodiest
history of the bloody Italian Middle Ages. The
Baglioni famUy were not content to drive out all
rival nobles from the city, but they must needs fall
upon each other in a manner so blood-thirsty and so
callously planned as to exceed even the ruthless
traditions of the local nobility. Fortunately for
those interested in the gentle sport of murder, the
Baglioni was such a numerous family as to pro-
vide in themselves ample material for indulging in

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Perugia

extended frttricide. In the midst of all this tumuJt
«nd blood spiUing, Perugino calmly continued to
paint hit peaceful scenes, and with him studied
the great Raphael, who later on shows us that
he was not forgetful of his early environment by
introducing into his frescoes of the Vatican Stanza
Astorre Baglioni, the most beautiful and perhaps
the most foully murdered of that murderous
race. He appears as Heliodorus being chased
jfrom the Temple by angels. In passing, it may be
permitted to the author, "doglike to bay the
Imoon,"— the scale of drawing used for Helio-
iorus is strangely out of harmony with that of his
••"stisers.

In the Duomo at Perugia, just on the right
you enter, is a window of 1565, showing,
linst a background of classical architecture, St.
Bernardino preaching to the people, but alas ! the
Hily robed figures seem more interested in looking
the tourist than at the great preacher. Their
jinattention to the sermon in no way suggests the
historic scene which took place in the picturesque
quare outside, when, from the small pulpit project-
ing from the church wall, he so wrought upon the
~>pulace that men and women stripped off their

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A Stained Glass Tour in Italy

jewels and in' a| spasm of remorse and reform filled
basket after basket with discarded finery. The
window is far too solemnly beautiful to recall that
dramatic scene. The Duomo was deprived of a
great work by the hand of William de Marcillat, for
he died a few days after signing the contract to glaze
the huge round window in the west wall.

In the church of St. Dominic the eastern
embrasure is unusually large, 20'8o meters by 7*40
meters. Its six lancets have their twenty-four panels
each filled with a saint in canopy, but aks I they are
of modern restoration and design. Along the lowest
tier are four good groups of figures preserved from
the original glazing of 141 1, the small people being
well drawn, and reminiscent of similar scenes at
Milan and Pisa.

The one fine window at the Duomo, and
St. Dominic's over-restored reminder of former
glory would hardly have taken us to Perugia
had it not been necessary to come here in order
to visit Assisi, that treasure house of early glass.
The delightfully picturesque site and the quaint
streets of "bloody Perugia" go far, however, to
console us for its poverty of windows.

Ill

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ASSISI

AT no time in the world's history has the
human race been so human as Huring
^ the Middle Ages — perhaps almost lOo
human in some manifestations of their
dark history, but if the passions of man had freer
play then than now, so too had the softer sentiments.
The hearts of men spoke as much more frankly
then, as did their wills and brains. On this gentler
side of the picture, over against the Man with
the Sword, there stands out no more sympathetic
figure than the monk Francis of Assisi, St. Francis,
whose followers in the i8th century numbered
150,000 with 9000 monastic establishments in
which to perpetuate the vows of chastity, poverty,
and obedience which he laid down and exemplified
throughout a life of good works. The anecdotes
of him that have come down to us reveal a human
being of astounding and masterful simplicity. With
the same unconscious dignity and the same Chris-
tian zeal, he pronounced his arguments before a

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A Stained Glass Tour in Italy

Mahomedan Sultan, or spoke his simple sermons
to the birds and fishes. His strength, and a force-
ful strength it was ! — was his convincing gentleness.
He was no Savonarola to thunder against the evil
life led by many of the clergy, but nevertheless he
accomplished greater reforms by the example of
a life which in itself was so potent a reproach to
the erring. In our modern days of reason and
advanced civilization it is difficult for us to realize
the constant difficulties which confi-onted this monk
in his attempt to accomplish that we know he did
in the stress of the turbulent life going on all f»hout
him. To feel his personality and to understand
the force which he and his life wielded during the
Middle Ages, one must go to Assisi. The place
is eloquent of him, and still possesses the atmos-
phere of religious mysticism that, although it existed
side by side with the constant clash of arms, yet
in no wise yielded place.

The town straggles up a hillside so steep that
one wonders that the church of San Francesco
remains anchored to its site. Above we have a
well-lijhted, airy edifice, while beneath its pavement
the slope of the hill permits an understructure,
on three sides of which a series of short windows

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Assisi

temper the gloom of the constant twilight lying
about the tomb of the gentle Francis. Both in the
lofty lancets of the upper church and the short
embrasures of the lower one is to be found a wealth
of stained glass of the mosaic medallion type. So
rare is the product of this period in Italy that this
is the only place where enough examples exist to
enable one satisfactorily to compare and study the
school. In the lower church we can inspect them
at close range and, at our ease, puzzle out the
story of the little scenes told in morsels of glass
laboriously leaded together. A painstaking craft
was that of the early glazier ! Here there are
surprises in store for those who have studied the
mosaic medallions of France and England, and
grown accustomed to the circles, squares, etc., tl.ere
so customary. At Assisi the designer of the
medaUion shapes ran riot, and his diminutive people
are enclosed in frames of every imaginable shape.
The 13th century medallions in the upper church
are more after the fashion of those which we have
seen in the north, but down below every effort
would seem to have been made to get away from
the conventional circles, etc. For example, in the
most easterly chapel on the north side the frame

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A Stained Glass Tour in Italy

is proviucd by a ribbon of many convolutions
wound £bout the tiny figure ; in the chapel of
St. Martin the glazier has daringly superimposed
each saint upon two circles, one above the other,
and yet has given ^s a successful result. Indeed,
" successful " is just the word we need to describe
this long series, except perhaps in one particular —
because of the enforced limitations of space, one can-
not get hr enough away from the windows to obtaiii
that jewelled glow produced by the breaking up
and refraction of the sun's rays by the myriad bits
of glass — a glow which we have learned to know
and love in France. We miss the splendid glitter
yielded by the transept rose windows of Notre
Dame in Paris, and in its stead have something
that more resembles the dose-at-hand beauty seen
in the Sainte Chapelle. So dimly lighted is this
crypt-like lower church at Assisi that it is only
when the sun gets low in the west that its slanting
rays enable one to make out the beautiful allegorical
frescoes painted by Giotto on the vaulting above
the altar more than six hundred years ago.

In sharp contrast to this scene of dim, solemn
beauty is the orilliantly lighted upper church to
which we ascend by a flight of steps rising from

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the Sacristy. Here, above the frescoes that run
all around the walls, is a series of tall lancets
containing medallion work as well as contemporary
panels of geometric decoration, and besides, certain
tall peiionages of such great size that the glazier
composed each face of a number ^f pieces. One
sees these tall figures stationed about the clerestories
of Chartres, Rheims, and other northern cathedrals.
Here, however, we note a difference — the large
figures are nearest us, while above their heads are
dis|-osed small groups in medallions : one would
prefer that the more easily seen personages should
have been placed the furthest f-om us, and that the
small scenes, the details of which are so difficult
to distinguish, had been brought nearer our eyes.
Most of this early glass in the upper church dates
from the end of the 13th century, and there are
many indications to show that Cimabuc had a hand
in their designing. One side of the nave has glass
of the early 14th century, and among it can be
easily recognized some figures in 15th century
canopies These latter were brought from the
cathedrals ^ Perugia and Foligno. Pursuing our
study of ♦**« glass chi onologically we will return
from the ^ -■ the lower church, and find t: .-e

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A Stained Glass Tour in Italy

no glass earlier than the 14th century. Fortunately,
however, for its general cflfcct, it is almost all of
that period. It will be well to devote particular
attention to the chapel of St Citherine, because the
three artists that worked upon it, Bonino di Assisi
and Angioleito and Pietro di Gubbio, also took
part in the glazing of the cathedrals at Siena and

Orvief

The story of the glass as told by /• rchives
of the church increases our surprise that its fragile
beauty should have survived the many vicissitudes
at the mercy of which it has existed for centuries.
Not only has it resist -d earthquakes and conflagra-
tions, but also certain playful tendencies of the
citizens, such as, for instance, are revealed by an
edict of the Commune of Assisi in 1330, for-
bidding the shooting of arrows or the throwing
of stones at the ch» ch of St. Francis, under a
penalty of the paymei f five lire ss damages !

CORTONA

THOSE who devote their stay in Italy to
the study of its art alone are unjustly
narrow, for that fiiir land has much to
say to the practical side of modern life.
Perhaps some of those ill-balanced students would
be surprised— nay, even grieved— to : -ar that there
is as much to learn for an energetic American
chamber of commerce m the activities and triumphs
of Ita]i?n mediaival trade guilds, as there is for the
most t. isiastic admirer of ancient pictures, which,
parenthetically, he frequently does not understand I
Just at present there happens to be a world-wide
movement to secure foreign trade through organized
effort by mercantile associations, and time spent
on studying the successful efforts along these same
lines by Italian merchants of the Middle Ages will
be well spent. The French system of co-ordinate
effort by chambers of commerce and government
is thus for the best modern plan, but even it
cannot surpass the admirably organized guilds of

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A Stained Glass Tour in Italy

Florence and her sister cities during the 14th
and 15th centuries. It is carefully thought-out
organization which wins results, and in this the
early Italians are not yet equaUed. Nor were these
guilds useful alone for the commercial purpose for
which they were primarily constituted. Savonarola
was not the only man astute enough to realize this
fact. Investigation will reveal that they provided
the foundation on which were erected the early
Republics. One is moved to query in passing
if the failure of the first French attempts at a
republic were not due to a lack of a basis of
just such organizations of already tested efficiency.
These guilds were to be found in all the important
Italian cities, and the stronger and better their
organization the more powerful the municipal
government based thereon. These bodies of
workers can be traced far back into the history of
the country. An early Roman inscription at Pisa
records that a son of a soldier of the loth Praetorian
Cohort bequeathed 4000 sesterces to "the most
ancient and worthy guild of shipwrights." That
the deceased was canny as well as generous appears
from the clause ordaining that if the shipwrights
failed to make the required annual sacrifices at

Cortona

his grave, they must deliver the money to the
carpenters who were then to undertake the
memorial services. During the second century
we find a guild controlling the amount and price
of timber to be floated down the Arno destined for
Rome. The history of the Florentine wool guilds
and their kindred bodies is the history of the early
commercial importance and growth in power of that
great city. We finally see her associated trades
under the superintendence of the silk makers
building the Church of Or San Michele and
decorating its walls with their patron saints. What
an inspiring sight it must have been when, upon
the Saint's day of some particular trade, a solemn
procession of all its members in brave array marched
behind their banners to give thanks in Or San
Michele to the patron saint who watched over their
industry.

It is, however, to Cortona that we must go to
find a church whose construction is actually owed
to a company of merchants. We read that in a
suburb of the town called Calcinaio, a certain
picture of the Virgin began to work so many
marvels that the guild of shoemakers, owning a
tract of land there, was fired with such pious zeal

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A Stained Glass Tour in Italy

as to donate its land, and begin thereon the con-
struction of a church to house the sacred painting.
Not only was the work carried through to a
triumphant conclusion, but it was actually finished
in thirty years (1484-1516) which almost breaks
the record for mediaeval church construction— a
businesslike feat by business men !

Now let us for the moment resist the tempta-
tion to delve further into the fascinating lore of the
Italian guilds, and resuming our r6le of sight-seeing
tourists, set out for this sanctuary of the worthy
shoemakers.

As one proqeeds from Perugia northward up
the Umbrian Plain, whether by the railway, restricted
to its steel line (and to some extent by time tables !)
or by the individualistic rambling of a motor car,
the most striking feature of the landscape will be
Lake Trasimene, studded with islands, its waters
now beautiful in their calm, now lashed into
boisterous waves by the winds that have free access
from every side. The bed of this lake is now
being made to yield up the treasures buried
beneath its waves during the old Etruscan and
Roman times, and many a museum boasts of a
share in these recovered trophies. It was on the

Cortona

very road we are travelling, near the northern end
of the lake, that Hannibal indulged himself in one
of those practical hints on military strategy which
he occasionally inflicted upon the Romans. This
time he laid particular stress on the need for scout-
ing, and the disadvantage frequently resulting from
doing as the enemy would have you do. The
Roman General Flaminius held Arezzo, thinking
that Hannibal on his march from the valley of the
Arno southward to Rome would surely not leave
such a strongly garrisoned post behind him. But
Hannibal, preferring to choose his own battlefield,
marched by Arezzo, entirely ignoring the Romans.
Now nobody likes to be ignored, and Flaminius set
out hotfoot after him, so intent on catching the
Carthaginians that he forgot to notice until too late,
that he had hurried into an ambush, Hannibal
blocking the road with the main body of his army,
while his lighter troops occupied the small hills on
both sides of the road and cut off the rear. The
Roman army was annihilated, and Flaminius died
with his men.

As we proceed on our northerly journey,
accompanied at a respectful distance on either side
by the flanking line of hills, the next striking object

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A Stained Glass Tour in Italy

in the landscape is a rounded height that rises
steeply on our right, crowned with fortresslike
G}rtona. This place should be endeared to our
memory as having long been the home of William
de Marcillat. Of him there was for a long time
but little known, and that little narrated by the
agreeable but inaccurate Vasari, the most misleading
of gossips. Recently, however, William's journal
and account-book have been discovered stored away
in the State Archives at Florence among the papers
of the Abbey of Camaldoli. They enlighten us
completely as to where he worked, for whom, and
also as to the pupils whom he encouraged by his
genius. The two masterpieces of his which used
to adorn the cathedral at Cortona have disappeared,
one to dwell in the Victoria and Albert Museum
in London, and the other to cross the Atlantic and
bury itself in seclusion somewhere in America. We
shall be consoled, however, if half-way up the road
which climbs to Cortona we stop in the suburb
called Calcinaio. In its church there are three fine
examples of this master, one being a handsome
bull's eye window, while the other two are of the
usual rectangular shape. The occhio in the facade
represents our Mother of Mercy recc^ , under

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Cortona

tnese kneeling fig„re, are Pope Leo y p„„ *

MaximUian I, and Cardinal 'Z "° *' ^^"'P"""
> »na k,ardinal Francesco Soderini
In one «an«p. i, ,,, ,^ ^^"^

and opposite. St Sebastian. The latter Z ,1 ! .

"Will.™., ,,^„^„^;^-;-d-

,1,, k 1 '^'"'''"™ to encroach upon

«« border, „ does also .he he«l of the che^b
P«p.ng down fton, ,^,^ ^ ™b

conventions as borders «^ . -.i.

with humiiit,. ZZu^:, . "■*" """ ""•

William de Ma^l 1 I T "''''^'' *«
ue iwarcUJat was but the Italian wav of

-ord.ng that he can,e fton, Marseilles, buT'o^
we know that his father'.

"«i nis ratiiers name aoDeaM ;« *u

.H^n:^.e;rL"'ir^"^''«''-^

» eager lace, reads hke an old romance
Bon, near B„„^« ;„ p^„_ ,, ~

to the <,u.et pursuit of his art studies. Hardl, htd
ke arrived at man's estate before he became involved
in a auarr(>I mJi.Vk i. . . "«vuivca

quarrel which resulted in the loss
W.Il«m fled to Nevers and sought

of a life, and
security by

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A Stained Glass Tour in Italy

taking monastic vows. Both at Bourges and Nevers
he doubtless benefited by observing their fine
windows. His budding talent as a gla;.s painter
becaine so well known that when Pope Julius II
summoned the French master, Claudf, to Rome,
he took William with him as an assistant. Soon
after reaching Rome, Claude died and left William
to carry on the work alone. His gifted nature
proved so receptive to the burst of artistic creation
by which Michael Angelo, Raphael, and manv
another were then glorifying Rome that William
became the greatest glass painter of the i6th
century. He was a gorgeous colourist ; but his
most noteworthy contribution to the craft in Italy
was the introduction of perspective, in the use of
which he was a master. Instead of employing
a;chitectural detail as part of the decoration of his
design (as had theretofore been customary) he
relegated it to its proper duty of assisting his space
composition, and the placing of his figures. Vasari
comments on the skill he displayed in so lending
the brighter colours to his important figures, and
leaving only the duller ones for the less important,
as if to indicate, by this very tone discrimination,
the degrees of interest deserved by the different

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Cortona

part, of th« picture. This comment touches a
wide ar.d undeveloped field, which deserves further
exploration than it has hitherto received. It has
alluring possibilities of new and tcUing effect, in
stained glass. William left behind him a series of
masterpieces surpassing anything produced by his
contemporaries in either the land of his birth and
youth, or in that of his adoption and his prime.
We will see more of his work in Arezzo.

Cortona provides a centre from which to visit
sundry isolated examples of William's genius.
There is a fine occhio glazed by him at Monte San
Savino, 25 kilometres to the west, and 7 kilometres
south thereof, in fhe church of P.eve Vecchio a^
Lucignano, there are also interesting proofs of his
skill Lucignano lies 20 kUometres west of Cortona
While these are not of sufficient importance to
delay aU of our company, there may be some who,
won by the charm of this Umbrian country, will
welcome these hints as an excuse for lingering
longer in it.

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AREZZO

TS lofty Umbrun plain sweeps north-
ward between its flanking lines of hills,
and at its northern end on a tilted
rocky uplift is stationed Arezzo, look-
ing for all the world like a slowly rising, half roused
guardian lion. Beyond again to the north this
plateau falls rapidly away, its waters gradually in-
creasing the mountain streams until they together
form the river Arno, whose course but briefly
checked by the weirs at Florence turns westward
and finally bids us adieu at Pisa just before it
disappears into the Mediterranean. Stationed thus,
!)etween the Umbrian plain and all that part of
Tuscany known as the Val d'Arno, Arezzo has
attained a greater importance than its population
would seem to warrant. Its railway station lies in
that lower part of the city which is on the plain,
and above it the streets sweep upward until, when
the height is reached on which is built the cathedral,
we find ourselves afibrded a delightful prospect over

Arczzo

the smiling country below. If yo\ arc fortunate
enough to enjoy this view in the : ringtime, do
not fail *o notice the strange green produced on
the plain below by the combination of the foliage
of the frequent olive-trees against th new grass.
Remember this colour when you enter the cathedral
and it may help you to understand whence come
the soft greens that you will sec iu Its windows.
Unusual too is the struct f *he chi rch, — no

windows at all on its north M ; but tur about

and look to the south, am ^!e amends «ill be

made to you. Along the »» ,sf tin. aisfc o. i that
side is ranged a series of fiv^ ^e emnrasurcs, and
nowhere in the world will > w find mt&te spier iid
examples of i6th century glazing t'-^m N«ri delight
your eyes- "splendid" is the onH »wJ one can
use to describe them, for notwithtr* ^ding the per-
fection of the drawing, t^ c skill »t' ^ space com-
position, and the complete realizat f everything
to be made out of g, s, it i^ aft * ill th^ daring
splendour of the colouring th»r ^e^-es and capti-
vates. Here, William de Mar * at his best.
In the usual i6th century fashion, i, ases CUssical
architecture as a background fo his figures and
also to aid in disposing them throughout the

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A Stained Glass Tour in Italy

compotition. But wh«t edifices he builds I— not at
all the usual type so well known in the popular
Renaissancs windows of the north. H«rc, columns
of green malachite, of red porphyry, and of poly-
chrome marble vie in brightness with parti-coloured
pavements of rich hues. Frequently we notice in
this radiant architecture as well as in the brave
attire of his richly-clad personages the subtle soft
greens peculiar to him, and oi ^hich we have
already spoken. Nor is the brightness nor the
combination of his tones and tints the only proof
of his skill, for where in glass is there to be found
a better drawing of the nude than Lazarus rising
from the tomb ? Neither does he hesiute which
part of his palette to use— what could be more
daring or moro successful than the salmon pink
clouds above the Baptism of Christ 1 Magnificent
as are these great pictures, in no way inferior is
the admirable Descent of the Holy Ghost up in
the large bull's eye of the west front. As if to
complete the proof of his crsatility he turned from
these large effects to the adroit glazing of the small
lancet in the east wall just north of the apse. Here
a skilfully unconventional use of architectural detail
balances the two carefully drawn figures. Up in

Arczzo

the dereitory along the south tide are live large
bull'* eyes, of which the two most westerly are
glazed in colour, but obviously of the 1 5th century
— a rather stiflf adaption of four upright figures to
each round embrasure. One would suspect that
we have here the intervention of a foreign hand,
for the Italians were never at fault in adjusting
their pictures to a circular frame. Upon the vaults
of the ceiling above are a further proof of William's
versatility, for here is spread out a series of excellent
frescoes, upon which he was engaged at the time
of his death.

Nor did William confine his efforts to the
cathedral alone, for at the churches of San Fran-
cesco and the Annunziata he left behind him enough
to have called us to Arezzo even had there been
no cathedral. At San Francesco a large occhio in
the west front gave him an ample opportunity to
display his skill as designer and colourist in the
portrayal of St. Francis of Assisi and his monks
before Pope Honorius III. Here again we see the
warm-tinted marbles against the background of blue
sky. What could be finer than the mannei* in
which the simple, pale garb of the kneeling St.
Francis and his followers in the centre is contrasted

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A Stained Glass Tour in Italy

with the gorgeous company of the Pope and his
attendant Cardinals ?

At the Annunziata, our admiration is not con-
fined to one window. A small occhio on the right
as we enter has a pleasing scene of the espousal
of the Virgin, the calm group in the centre con-
trasting with the vigorous action of the disappointed
suitors at the sides breaking their wands. Along
the sides of the nave are a number of rectangular
windows showing coloured figures on a field of
white lozenges, surrounded by yellow stain borders.
There are other satisfactory windows of the usual
type m the transepts. William's most important
effort IS high up in the semi-circular apse, while below
.t are three windows showing conventional saint,
in Renaissance canopies. This large round window
of his displays in its lower part his usual dexterity
.n setting forth an agreeable landscape peopled with
well-drawn coloured figures. Above, in a strongly
accentuated oval enclosure, is the Virgin, and very
ingenious is the way in which he has made her the
focus of his picture, both by splashes of red and
other colour devices. William reveals himself at
Arezzo as a colourist, a draughtsman, and a deft
manipulator of the possibilities of stained glass

Arezzo

such as the craft never produced in any other
country.

Before leaving Arezzo one should visit the
ancient church of the Pieve. The promise held
out by the gallery-on-gallery of columns which
adorn its facade is borne out by the interesting
early architecture within, but the special purpose
of our visit will be to note in the south wall a
small deeply-set round embrasure, whose seven
circular apertures are filled with translucent light
grey alabaster. It is from such quaint beginnings
that there developed the craft which adorned the
cathedral with the splendid triumphs of William de
Marcillat.

North-west of Arezzo, across the Arno, and
about lo kilometres away, is the town of Siicina,
lying close by Capolana. There is but little glass
here, but there is enough to afford some leisurely
pilgrim an excuse for another day in Umbria.

1 i-

FLORENCE

WHATEVER be the purpose of one's in-
vestigation of the centuries when our
glass was made, sooner or later there
is sure to be encountered traces of the
warm appreciation then enjoyed by the profession
of the diplomat. Nowhere in the whole peninsula
caw this fact more appropriately give us pause than
m Florence, for in the annals of medieval Italian
diplomacy no State attained a higher rank than she.
How widely this fact was recognized and utilized
IS strikingly evidenced by the astonishment of Pope
Boniface VIII on remarking that all the ambas-
sadors sent to represent the Christian Powers at
the Jubilee of 1300 were Florentines. No diplomat
of the old school bore so famous a name as that
of her subtle and unscrupulous citizen, Machiavelli,
indeed so typical of it was he that an iUustrativc
adjective has been derived from his name. Much
as we may to^iay object to his ^oint of view, there
IS no gainsaying his pre-eminence among his

Florence

contemporaries, nor doubt of the diplomatic suc-
cesses gained for Florence through his teachings.
Fortunately, the world is coming to know that
greater and more permanent results are obtainable
from what John Hay, when Secretary of State,
called the diplomacy of the Golden Rule—" What-
soever ye would that men should do to you, do ye
even so to them." But, in its day, it is undeniable
that the Machiavellian system proved effective
against others of similar kind, and it will be of
interest to us, as students of those times, to see
what were the ends it most sought to serve. In
what cause did Florentine diplomacy win its
triumphs ? Many of us will be surprised to learn
that it was along the lines of what has been recently
named "doUar diplomacy,"--that is, by striving
to assist abroad the commercial interests of the
State. No sooner had the merchant guilds estab-
^shed their industries on a firm basis at home than
Florentme diplomacy sprang to their assistance, and
bent aU ,ts energies to secure them an outlet abroad
Dollar diplomacy "was well understood and suc-
cessfuUy practised in Florence centuries before that
phrase was coined in America. Just glance throu ;
the pages of Florentine history and what do you

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find ? Isn't it dear that the reason for the per-
sistent policy of the Medicis in assisting Milan
against the Venetians is found in the former's
willingness to keep open the northern mountain
passes so that the Florentine merchants could push
their trade in northern Europe, while Venice, on
the contrary, was for stifling Florentine exporters
by closing those avenues of commerce? Again,
when the goldsmiths of Florence had succeeded in
producing a coin of marked excellence, did not
Florentine diplomacy materially assist to popularize
abroad this florin, as it was called ?— a coin destined
to gain such wide currency that the employment
of its name has persisted to this day. If space
allowed, instances might be multiplied of the can..^
Florentine merchant relying on the diplomatic assist-
ance of his State to gain and hold for him trade
advantages, whose use none knew better than him-
self. The long struggle to seize and hold Pisa
was actuated by the desire to provide Florentine
merchants with an easy outlet to the Mediter-
ranean, and a participation in the profitable carrying
trade of that sea. It was but seldom that Florence
could find much interest in a war that did not in
some way assist he: trade, for the aim of her

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Florence

diplomacy, peaceful or warlike, was commerce
rather than conquest. Not territory but trade,
and only territory when it furthered trade. Judging
from its results, the "florin diplomacy" of the
Middle Ages was as successful as the most active
"dollar diplomacy" of to-day. Nor did Florence
think it needful to employ specially trained diplo-
mats, for so general was her recognition of the
utility of diplomacy, that she seemed to breed
diplomats in every street. No, when Florence
found herself confronted with a task needing diplo-
matic solution, she selected the man deemed suit-
able to that piece of work. For example, when
it was the moment to fling down the gauntlet to
the neighbouring city of San Gemignano, Dante,
the imperious-minded and intolerant poet, was
chosen to bear the Florentine message of defiance.
When, however, an occasion arose requiring con-
cUiatory measures, they selected as their envoy
the fair-spoken and smooth-tongued MachiavelH
or Guicciardini.

Ic it not easy to imagine for oneself the diplo-
matic policies of the Signoria being discussed by
the keen-witted citizens, either on the shop-
bordered pathway that leads across the Ponte

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A Stained Glass Tour in Italy

Vecchio, or in the airy shade of the Loggia dei
Lanzi, or on cool days when the tramontana
blew, in the sheltered sunny spaces about the
Duomo, or in that dignified square before the
Palazzo Vecchio ! A growing and a busy city is
Florence, and yet among the hurrying throng are
faces of the old types among whom the old-world
setting of the streets helps us to picture certain
of her ancient worthies. See I down that narrow,
dark lane, stalks some stern-featured Dante, a
poetic survival of the old Florence that existed
before the new city burst into that broader life
which was symbolized by the surging skywards
of the wondrous dome of Brunelleschi and of Santa
Croce and Sante Maria Novella, the rival establish-
ments of the Dominicans and the Franciscans. Dante
and the men of his time were truculendy satisfied
with the Florence of their day, and pointed with
complacence to the sturdy Baptistery lined with
range on range of rich mosaics, and to that union
of feiry grace and colour with trim strength, the
bell tower that alone would have immortalized
Giotto. All these Florentines, be they of the
older conservative group, or of their successors
who looked forward with wider horizon, each and

will

•WewalK Jn!,;;;:^'"'* "^:-^NTA MARIA NOVEM.A

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Florence

several possessed that eager confidence which was
the haU-mark of Florentine patriotism. Whatever
there was to be done would of course, said they,
be accomplished, and the only useful thought was
that expended on how to do it I Men could
always be found, and easily, too. Had not a
J Cimabue come forward to break the chains of
Byzantine formalism that were felt to be fettering
art, and, when further progress was needed, had
he not discovered a shepherd's lad named Giotto,
drawing sheep in a lifelike manner, theretofore'
unknown! When the Baptistery had to be
adorned with finer bronze doors than any rival
city could show, did not there appear a youth of
eighteen, Lorenzo Ghiberti, of such mature genius
as to defeat many distinguished competitors ! With
a constant recurrence of :.uch miracles of artistic
productivity, would any doubt of the city's power
to produce men for every emergency be aught else
but sheer disloyalty to the lily-broidered banner 1

There are so many angles and points of view
from which one may regard the life and people
of this fascinating town, that the Florence of
one reader may be quite different from the one
upon which another loves to muse. And some

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A Stained Glass Tour in Italy

of these vignettes wiU show a modern aspect—
for example, the Florence of Browning, for she
is peculiarly haunted with memories of him. Go
to the square in front of the Innocenti, and there
astride his bronze horse is the Duke forever
regarding the window where so long, to watch
him passing, sat the disconsolate inamorata of
"The Statue and the Bust." The "Ring and
the Book " is about you everywhere, for although
it ends in Rome, it begins here with the purchase
of "the Book" in the square of San Lorenzo.
Across from the Pitti Palace Browning and his
gifted wife lived for many years, and there she
wrote « Casa Guidi Windows " and other poems.

There are many who believe that the history
of great individuals provides the most trustworthy
exposition of the life of their times. Certainly,
the lives of the great Florentines would seem
peculiarly to justify this belief. So strongly are
they stamped with the cachet of their city that
even the briefest study of their careers inevitably
weaves us back into the history of the town.
Always is this true, from the most ambitiously
grasping of the Medicis to that meek soul, Fra
Angelico, declining the Pope's offer of the Bi;.hop's

Florence

mitre— from the broad genius of Michael Angelo
to the narrow outlook of MachiaveUi— from
Cimabue, the pioneer, through Giotto the natural,
to the most finished exponent of Florentine art.
Ever and always these master minds will be found
indelibly marked with the characteristics of their
strenuous commonwealth, and you can no more
understand them apart from it than you can
imagine ivy standing aloof from its supporting
wall.

But enough ! we must resist the fascination

of Florence in general, and betake ourselves to

her windows. Not only has she a gratifying

quantity of ancient stained glass, but it is mostly

of the best Italian period, the 15th century, and,

furthermore, unsurpassed of its kind. It is chiefly

to be seen in the Duomo, the two large churches

of Santa Maria NoveUa and Santa Croce, the smaller

sanctuary of Or San Michele, and the Laurentian

Library. Across the Arno, in Santo Spirito, there

is also a fine round window or occhio, attributed

to Perugino. It represents the « Descent of the

Holy Ghost," and is the only examnle in Italy

of brusquely horizontal grouping i. ,:. occhio,

with no attempt to adjust the picture to the

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A Stained Glass Tour in Italy

circultr spue. The border which c-idotet it it
of the richest Renaissance colouring and detail.
Fine as is this window, it is but one of thirteen
splendid occhi of which the city can rightly boast.
The Duomo alone contains ten of these peculiarly
Italian windows, three in the western ^M^de, and
seven ranged around below Brunelleschi's dome.
The eighth embrasure in the dome, the one to
the west, is glazed in white, the better to light
the altar, standing below and to the east of it.
Each one of these seven deserves a special account,
so delightful are they in design and colour, but
we must content Ourselves with saying that they
set forth admirably drawn scenes from the life of
the Saviour. The borders deserve particular notice
for their wealth of decoration, especially the one
to the east, composed of angel's heads each sur-
rounded by a halo. The drawings for this series
of seven were provided by Lorenzo Ghiberti,
Donatello, Paolo Uccello, and Perugino. Ghiberti
also drew the cartoons for the splendid round
lights that pierce the west front, one huge one
high up in the middle, flanked by two of more
modest size, lower down and just above the side
portals. These smaller ones both evidence the

Florence

customary Italian skill in adjusting the figures to
a circular embrasure, the golden backs of the seats
lending the required breadth to the grouping.
The great central occhio is a really splendid effect
in glass, showing the " Assumption of the Virgin "
in a blaze of colour and amidst a swirl of angels'
wings that is altogether admirable.

Most foreigners who visit the Duomo will go
away without discovering the trick that the archi-
tects have played upon them in the matter of
the nave windows. From the inside there seem
to be four tall lancets on each side, but outside
there are six in both the north and the south
wall. How is it done ! Return to the interior,
look more carefully, and you will find that
westerly pair on each side are filled with mo
instead of glass, and that those to the east vf
them have either become so begrimed (or else
had their opacity lessened by paint!) as not, by
their superior translucence, to betray the trick.
The explanation is that the wall plans of the
nave were changed before their construction was
finished, and this device was employed to avoid
the appearance within of too many lancets in the
western half of the structure. The easterly pair

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A Stained Glass Tour in Italy

of lights on each side are more interesting than
beautiful. They date from the closing years of
the 14th century (1394-6), and are among the
few examples in Italy of the canopy style so
common north of the Alps. Each lancet has six
sainis, :ach in his own elaborate niche, two on
a tier a border separating them perpendicularly
;;i;ter..d of, as usual, only running around outside
next the stonework. We have just explained why
they are so opaque, and this very loss of trans-
lucence has robbed them of almost all the beauty
they ever had. Thus are they justly punished for
their connivance in the trick upon the unsuspect-
ing stranger !

And now for a treat such as even ancient stained
glass cannot often offer. Come with us beneath
the dome, and look out into the apse or into either
of the transepts. Alike in dimensions, they are
glazed in absolutely the same manner. Above and
below run a series of ample lights filled with
stately figures richly robed, and of colour so deep
and warm that it is almost pulsating. When
gazing on them one recalls Huneker's admirable
translation of Huysman's word picture: "the
bugle cry of red, the limpid confidence of white,

Florence

the repeated hallelujah of yellow, the virginal glory
of blue, all the quivering crucible of glass." No-
where are there tones so mellow, so harmonious.
Nor IS there here any jarring contrast from light
panes used for canopies-architecture is shown, but
of such radiant hues as to aid the strength of the
picture instead of being merely a contrasting frame
Five wmdows above, and the same number below
a total of ten for each transept and for the apse
in aU a magnificent series of thirty. Certain of the
north transept lights have white glass in their
upper halves, but they are so placed that you do
not see them as you look north from below the
dome. The sci me of the designs is the same
throughout; above, a large single figure, and in
the lower lights a pair of them, not. as usual, each
ngidly stationed in his own half, but turning
slighdy toward one another, and rather nearer the
centre than the sides-very graceful and agreeable.
The wnter prefers the ensemble of the south
transept, but that is entirely a matter of taste.
See them for yourself, and make your own decision.
Th,s glorious g.-ing was done during the absolute
high tide of the art, 1432-43. u ;, k„„^„ ^j^^^
a German was fetched from Lubeck to take part

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A Stained Glass Tour in Italy

in the work, but be that as it may, the result is
clearly Italian, and not German. There is so
much in it to admire, that it seems invidious to
call attention to any detail, but we cannot turn
away without giving special praise to the pains
spent upon enriching the brocade of the costumes,
and also the glorious Italian rendering of the
canopies. The warm tones given the stones is a
truthful echo of the wondrous rosy hues of the
cathedral's exterior.

It is quite a change from the spaci,ms, bare
mterior of the Duomo, to the monastic hive of
buildmgs at Santa Maria Novella or at Santa Croce,
where a church is but the centre of a colony of
chapels, cloisters, and minor edifices. The open space
before Santa Maria Novella has at either end a small
obehsk, mute reminders of the days when they
were the turning goals for the annual chariot races.
It IS clear that here truly the race was not to the
swift, but rather to dexterous horsemanship I The
popularity of these exciting contests caused them
to outlive many another ancient custom. Lady
Dorothy NeviU, in her delightful memoirs, speaks
of having witnessed them in her youth. The
oldest glass in this church is that which fills the

Florence
large occhio „f ,he west front It, division into
.hr« concentnc circle, i, ceu^nly an older treat-

^ud the central picture i, a series of smaller
%ure, ,„ e,ght groups, „hi,e outside of these runs
" w,de conventional border i„ ,he -orid Italian
manner Monotony of general tore is avoided by
the predon,,n.nce of yellows in the lower half.
y.dd.ng to browns above. The exterior iron bars
are ar^nged in an unusual fashion and are worth

"bservng The chief glory of the interior is the
sp«ous chapel behind ,h. altar, where the glaring

of the three ample lancets is in eve^„,,torthy
to ^company .he charming frescoes of Ghirlandajo

from the h.stonc year ,„j. „„, jiffi,.,,, f^ ,__
American to remember. They were instaBed two
y«rs after the frescoes were finished. Notice .he
appczmg borders of fruits mixed with flowers.
We see here many Florentine features, viz. deep
blue backgrounds, coloured marbles, use of a soft

SfiirT""" °' '"^'"^ «'• The saints
wh,ch fiU the two side lancets are replaced in the

larger central one by three groups one above the

other, .ncreasing in their proportions as they

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A Stained Glass Tour in Italy

descend. The red apples in the smaU tree at the
top look as edible as the fruit in the borders.
Notice the rich barrel vaulting with its gold bosses
in the central picture. The artist frequently em-
ploys an unusual and effective wine colour in the
garments of his figures. So important is the glaz-
ing of this chapel, that it overshadows the fine
window by Filippo Lippi in the adjoining chapel to
the south. This is later workmanship (1502) and
shows too much surface painting. Dark green is
employed instead of the light shade usual in
Tuscany, and the general effect is so much heavier
than that of the central chapel, that it yields a better
effect when seen from the nave than from nearer at
hand. The chapel which closes the end of the north
transept has an earlier window than those just
described. The canopies here are much simpler
and enclose two figures, one above the other. The
richness of the red robe of the upper one is very
pleasing. There should also be noticed three win-
dows in the chapels at the north-east. They show
similar treatment throughout, a border of deep
yeUow stain enclosing Renaissance arabesques, with
a coat of arms in the centre of each. In the west
wall of a smaU room to the south-west of the south

: I

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Florence

transept are two circular embrasures filUd u,V.
roundels whose size increases a, th

^^--e;thisisunr::ritr°cr'°:

courts and ,uad.ngles lie all ^bL?;^^^^^^^^
d^cnng .n plan and importance, and one i git
fied by possessing the so^alled Soanish rf
wHose^escoes have aroused the e'^u L ^
Jong Ime of critics. But .hat has to T u

ob«rv.d opening off i« f„„H„, ,,^ ,^^ ^^ ^
Chapel, a pure example of , .^u of building „"
uncommon in lul,. Upon , .^o. ,r J 1^^
cross ,s supenmposed a smaB don,e. The d„^

:::'*""'"'" '^ """-^ •" r.. and ad";

Mue hannon. ag^y^ ^,, ^ „^_|^ ^^^

Robba medallions. Over the >If„ ■

windo.B,Baldovinetti,tLt1il::X7j^^^

wooUy white beard disclosing the author Z'^l'

^ the smaU circular opening above is a busf d

»g«m we see the Baldovinetti beard Altho K k
richness of the glass is in . T ^'''^^^^ '^«
ne giass ,s m striking contrast to the

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A Stained Glass Tour in Italy

low tones of the chapel, a concession is made by a
liberal use of light, almost opalescent, blue in various
parts of the design.

Entering the large T-shaped church, we at once
realize that an ample display of glass awaits our
investigation. The writer prefers the large occhio
in the western front to any other in Italy. Per-
haps it is not the finest, but his reason for pre-
ferring it is sin.:iar to that of people who prefer
early tapestries to the most perfect Gobelins. The
Gobelins are copies of oil paintings, while the
cartoons of their forerunners were obviously made
for tapestries alone, and therefore show a know-
ledge both of the possibilities and the limitations
of weaving, which the Gobelins often disregarded.
This window shows the Descent from the Crojs,
and whoever drew the cartoon for it thoroughly
understood how to make the most of glazing in
colour. The disposal of the figures over the
entire surface is admirable. Nothing could be
neater than the adjustment of the trees below, or of
the flying angels above. As was to be expected, the
background is blue and there is a liberal use of
soft greens in the rest of the picture. Unless I am
much mistaken you will pay several visits to this

.la... .n...lu':;;jr';l:;::;.':i:.T;::.',',:;,i> u::!\':t::!;[;;;:] '"'• '' ■• "-'"■ ■■<■ -•

iiiii.

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1 1

Florence
occhio before you leave Florence. Down each side
of the nave are UU lancets, most of them glazed in
colour, generally showing single figures in canopies
which, with two exceptions, are Gothic. There are
two tiers of these enshrined saints, and two on each
tier. The tones are of the usual 15th century
richness, but the restorer has frequently let his
zeal run away with his reverence for the antique.
This is particularly true of the northern lancets, and
also of the three tall double ones which light the
shallow chapel back of the high altar. One has only
to sund off at a distance to detect the thin-toncd
new panes among the richer and deeper old ones.
Above and to the right and left of the chapel aper-
ture, two tall narrow lancets pierce the wall, and
these still preserve their old glazing-a triple tier
of canopied figures, with a medallion at the very top.
They are placed so high as to rob them of much of
their value, and this prepares us to appreciate the
fecility for close inspection aflbrded by the window
of the chapel closing the end of the south transept
The pattern of the border, a winding vine with
yellow and green leaves on a blue and red ground
shows this to be early work, as does also the
elementary character of the Gothic canopies ; the

};

A Stained Glaw Tour in Italy

T IT"? ""'" "" •"« P"««"«< very ,
When this ghiing was done.

-M. church „ ,h. „„i,„ „„ ,„

••II of the chapel « ,he end of the nor,
.'"n«p.. I, ,00k, ,i,, „.,.,^,, "2

" ""''.^ "'' "-"J- '"e "riter h« ev„ «e,

rdlow hon, on blue, or long-tailed red bird, o,
Wue. or green one, on red, etc. The fiequen

the wh,,e note „ often .truck in .hi, ,i„<,„„
Golden «eur, de li. on blue abound, approprf... „

c,e„ed<igureofl.„i,,XofFn.nce.,ho.b"

•" '• ! ""'^ '"Sg«tion of a canopy i, ,hc
P0.n ted ..h n,ade by a white line above ,hT«l«

«ngel, wh,ch rechne upon the sloping ,ide, of ,he«
Pomted arches. Thev «m,ri»,
Italian ™- .• 7^ "raW'mes appear in early
Itahan pa,n„ng,, but not on gl.„. Altogether

.l.«w,ndowi,a,ch.r„,inga,i,i,unu,ual.

Qu... dift,«„t ft„„, rt, ,p„,.„„^ .___^^.^^^ ^^

taly

very ftr

s, as is

rs we

Florence

have ju,t been frequenting i, the small church of
Or San M.chele. erected by the guilds of Florence
under the special superintendence of the silk
merchants, and adorned outside by a serie. of
handsomely niched statues of iSeir patron saints.
Surpnsed .ndeed are we to learn that above the
church ,s a large storehouse built to hold corn, but
th.» .» not the only novel feature of this quaint
7"""^- The altar is not in the middle but is
placed to the north so as to balance the gorgeous
tabernacle of Orcagna ,ut,oned to the .outh So
too the window embrasures are peculiar in shape,
and abbrevated. The glass is more archaic in design
than that which we have been examining, and it
does not take long to notice that the four most
easterly wmdows are earlier than the six to the west
of them The easterly ones tend as strongly to
reds and blues as the others do to yellows and
greens On all side, is a multitude of small people
grouped m engaging scenes, and nowhere any sign
of restraint from conventional canopies. The ray-
'■ke shts m the traceries are differently treated-
■n one place we have small angels arranged like

hc^ngs in a barrel, while in another the extended
w.ng, of cherubs fill these narrow radiating apertures.

97 H

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A Stained Glass Tour in Italy

Parts of six of the windows have purposely been
left white, but the older four to the east are
entirely glazed in colour. Or San Michele aflbrds
a delightful proof that during their struggle for
commercial supremacy the Florentine guilds raised
their artistic standard rather than neglected it.

Thus far we have visited only religious edifices,
but now we shaU see glass of a secular type, somc-
thmg far rarer. In the long series of rectangular
windows in the Laurentian Library there exists one
of the many monuments to the Medici family, to
whose patronage of art we moderns owe so much
And such a series, all similar, fifteen on one side
and twelve on the other ! The entire surface of
each IS given over to arabesques, griffins, etc., out-
lined in grey and soft browns, the general effect
being meUowed by a judicious use of low pinks
and blues. Of course the six balls of the Medici
arms are given due prominence, and on many or
the windows appear dates, ,558, 1567, 1^68.
Some critics have maintained that the dating of
some of them subsequent to the dea^'. of da Udinc
proves that he could not have been the designer,
general belief to the contraiy notwithstanding.
May It not be respectfully submitted to these

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Florence

gentlemen that as da Udine was alive when the
earliest dated window was made, the later dates
may refer to their glazing and installation, and not
to the original cartoons ? It would seem that these
cnt.cs could make out a stronger case if they would
confine themselves to pointing out how inferior this
glass is to da Udine's work at the Certosa in the
Val d'Ema near Florence. There he used the leads
to assist in providing the outlines, but here they are
allowed to break up the surface into squares. Nor
IS the drawing here anything like so delicate as that
which charms us at the Certosa. But even in the
light of this honest criticism it cannot be denied
that the Laurentian glass produces a satisfactory
effect. Wherever it has been necessary to fill in
with new panes, the old spirit has been carefUUy
mamtamed, even to the employment of the amusing
httie turtles whose progression is being assisted by
sails hoisted on their backs. It is much to be
regretted that so little of ancient domestic glass has
survived till our time. It fared far worse than that
instaUed m churches, and more's the pity.

Such is a brief survey of Florentine windows.
Because of its wealth in this regard, Florence
deserves to rank with York, Rouen, Troyes, and

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A Stained Glass Tour in Italy

Nuremberg, and it will be difficult to make oui
reader resume his pilgrim's stafF after once he hai
tarried on the banks of the Arno. But bestir ye
gentle sirs, there be other sights to seel Ston
your memories with delightful visions of windows
seen, and fere ye forth, bent on further acquisitions,
All pilgrims from across the Atlantic, whether
Americanized Anglo-Saxons of the north or Ameri-
canized Latins of South America, should reverently
repair to the small church of Ognissanti, for there
lie entombed the mortal remains of that bold
Florentine navigator Amerigo Vespucci, to whom
our hemisphere of liberty owes its name. Would
that we might bring as much honour to our re-
spective fatherlands as did our illustrious namegiver
to Florence I

100

ily

lice our
he has
!Stir ye,
Store
irindows
isition:.
whether
Ameri-
I'erently
)r there
It bold
whom
Would
our re-
negiver

1;!

l/tj

SAN MINIATO

OVER against the City of Florence, across
the Arno and outside the walls,
nses the height called San Miniato
Demurely quiet as it now appears
I and peaceful as is the prospect of the ancienrcitJ
^ below, .t was not always thus. In ,„, J
ven.tile Michael Angelo became for it, first an
engineer, and later a warrior, for he fortified and
defended .t against the Imperial troops during
thejr long s.ege of Florence. The two ver^
dfent approaches to it are equaUy attn^tiv^
wheth.-r one elects to drive up the flower- bordered
U'gzag that mounts from the river through the
steep park to the open space at the top, or whether
m more leisurely feshion we go out from the
Porta Romana and follow the longer road slowly
Nopmg up through the trees, and enjoying from
Itnne to t.me charming vistas ofl^ to the left. When
^the open space at the brow of the hill is reached,

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A Stained Glass Tour in Italy

one is rewarded by the amazing view of Florence
lying below us, and across to the hills about
Fiesole on the other side. Far off to the right
are the lofty Apennines, and if it chances to be
the time of the spring showers, we shall see the
mountains crowned with late snow, for a rain at
San Miniato will mean snow on the northern
hills. What a prospect lies before us, and but
little changed since there looked down upon it
Michael Angelo or Ghiberti or Benvenuto Cellini,
or any other of the great Florentines who lived
after that burst of building that thrust into the
air Brunelleschi's cathedral dome, Santa Croce, and
Santa Maria Novella. Over yonder on those
heights of far Fiesole are the very gardens to
which Boccaccio's gay and heartless company
withdrew from the plague-stricken town below
them, and listened and laughed the awful hours
away. They s'ill smile at us across the valley of
the Arno, but this memory puts a grimness in
the smile.

San Miniato holds for us lovers of windows
two edifices, both churches, entirely unlike each
other. The first to be reached on our upward
way is San Salvatore, sometimes called San

102

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San Miniato

Francew «1 Monte. Along the sides of the
nave are modest chapels above whose altars is
a series of small rectangular windows of interest.
Over the doorway in the south side is a pleasant
bit of glazing, whose donor is disclosed by the
appearance of the Peruzzi arms, the pears with
the leafy stems. We wiU already have noticed
those arms in Santa Croce, so enriched by the
beneftctions of that family.

Continuing upward we arrive at the old fortifi-
cations of Michael Angelo, and passing through
two gates reach the summit and come out upon
a small paved space before the Church of San
Miniato al Monte. Its ftjade is encrusted with
white and black marble, and enlivened with
mosaics. The pavement upon which we stand is
also of coloured marble, and within the church this
pavement shows many quaint arabesques and figures
worked out in sharply contrasted black and white.
The eastern end of the interior is divided into
lower and upper portions, not unusual among early
churches. The upper half is richly adorned in
marble and frescoes, and embellished with con-
ventional Cosmato mosaic. It terminates at the
east in a semi-circular apse, and nothing could

103

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A Stained Glass Tour in Italy

be more delightful than the manner in which
this apse is lighted. Through its wall of white,
grey, and black marble are r»ierced five ample
rectangular embrasures, filled with slabs of trans-
lucent alabaster. The thicknc^ of this substonce
is such that although it readily admits the light
when the sun's rays arc falling directly upon it,
it almost entirely excludes them when the angle
becomes too acute. Therefore the fact that these
windows are stationed in a semi-circle results in
no two of th«m being lighted to the same extent
at the same time. Elsewhere in Italy the colour
of the alabaster used in windows is fiurly even
in tone, but here it is strongly mottled, the effect
being almost that of rich pink nuggets in a field
of grey. It is fascinating to sit here and watch
these great translucent slabs slowly shift in tone
as the light upon then varies. One of them
will be brilliantly lighted, while the one farthest
from it will have faded into an opaque grey.
You cannot watch them loi'-f without noticing a
feature which may have bet-r. studied or may be
but the fruit of lucky chance. The grey of the
slabs, which for the moment are opaque, blends
exactly with the grey marble of the apsf, while

104

1 »

INI KkluK Ol- > v\ MINI \ III

\..l.- 111.- .m-Ticlh "f tin (>..lliiri ,lf. ,,r..ti,,i, ,!,.,„ j., ilitt. n i,l ..,!.. in.. I iii.iiM.-- .u»l
IIWIIO. ..i-.illll- 111. llirrilni.irlill-li.i\.-nirn;. Illf ..l.il..,.|il «in.l.i«N .,i.- r,,ii ■(•.: r.iin.l
ihe ^«lll. ir. iil.ir .ipse m-.ti in ihc ii|i|i, r "I" lli. i«-. fl.„,is im., ,■ l,i, I, ,1,,. ,..,-,"11, i-,.! . B
ill.- . Iiiii It is .livi.if,!.

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San Miniato

in the more translucent windows the light has, by
contrast, made some denser parts of the alabaster
as black as the black marbles about it. Thus,
be the alabaster grey or black, there is always a
marble to match it, and so it swings through its
harmony of translucence, accompanied by a double
bass of grey and black. It is impossible to
describe in written words the soft meUow glow
yielded by the San Miniato alabaster— to be
understood it should not only be seen, but must
be watched. We will be content, however, with
your promise to go there for, once before it, you
will surely fall victim to the alabaster's ever varying
spell.

i-l^

105

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VAL D'EMA

NO pilgrimage into the Middle Ages
such as ours is (or should be !) can
in any wise be complete if it omits
a close-at-hand view and understand-
ing of monastic life— so important a factor in
mediaeval times. Not only was it a school in which
many statesmen were trained, but the seclusion of
its cloisters especially fevoured the study of the
sciences and the arts, something difficult or im-
possible in the turbulent world outside. The
monastic calm in which Fra Angelico painted his
heavenly figures helps to explain how he obtained
results so far beyond his contemporaries outside
the monastery gate. Having laid down this pre-
mise let us set forth from Florence bound for the
smUing valley of the Ema, only three miles away.
In the midst of this valley rises a square eminence,
capped with an establishment of Carthusian monks,
and here we may to-day observe the life and

1 06

Val d'Ema

environment which during the i^th and icth
centuries must have provided such c^Hking
contrast to the restless struggles punctuated with
open stri/e, which characterized the everyday life
of nearby Florence.

We enter through the courtyard where the
lay brothers lived, and pass on through the smal'
church, the centre of the community's life. At
the further end of this group of buildings lies
the largest of the four cloistered quadrangles. It
.s surrounded by apartments devoted to the brothers
of the highest monastic . ade. For each nionk
there .s a bedroom, a study, etc., and also his
diminutive garden, a few paces in length. Within
this large quadrangle flowers and bushes spring
from the green grass beneath which sleep the
departed Carthusians in their unmarked graves. In
the centre is the ancient well, its great depth
ensuring a constant supply of water. We see the
Refectory i„ which the community partook of its
frugal meals of vegetables and fish, while one of
them read aloud from the lives of the saints
Nor was the life of th.s mcMdsh colony in any
wise an idle one, for each man had his occupation
were .t the hewing of wood, or the pain 'ng of

107

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A Stained Glass Tour in Italy
sacred pictures. Below on either side stretches the
quiet landscape of tiUed fields roUing down to the
stream that wanders quietly through the vaUejr.
Here is the "peace that passeth understanding,"
and the leisure for undisturbed service.

Two epochs of glass are represented here, and
each by delightful examples. Leaving the church
by the south portal bent on visiting the exquisitely
carved tombs of the Acciaiolis below, we come upon
a lofty lancet on our left, glazed in the pot-metal
canopy manner, brilliant, satisfying. Each of the
six panels contains its own enshrined saint, and
very skilful is the way in which the colours of their
robes are combined and all thrown out by the blue
backgrounds within the niches. The amount of
brassy yeUow used in depicting architecture, the
frequent use of leaves in the rich border, etc.,
incline one to suspect the assistance of a northern
glazier. On the other hand, the participation of
local talent is to be assumed from the frequent
employment of a certain new-grass green, very light,
soft and fine, common throughout 'his district.
Not oniy does it appear in the garnr ,ts, but also
in the architecture, in the book which St. Lawrence
holds, in the martyr's palms, etc. This same green

1 08

the
the

VaJ d*Ema

is used tOKiay for window blinds all over Tuscany
so Its popularity would seem to have been an
enduring one I It is worth while examining the
details of this glass, so carefuUy have they been
worked out. For example, note the pains the
gUzier took with the two white-bearded heads
His success m contrasting the brown feces with
the hoary beards must have given him as much
satisftiction as it does us.

The cloister walk alongside the northern church
wall ,s enclosed from the weather by eight windows,
two of which, however, were left unfinished by the
artist who achieved such a charming result in the
remaining six. They are accredited to da Udine,
who died before his task was completed. Con-
sidered as windows to be observed close at hand,
and therefore subjected to unusually critical scrutiny
they are almost unequaUed. We have already seen
some of the same type in the Laurentian Library at
Florence, but of nothing like so choice a quality
Three designs are used for the six embrasures, they
being treated in pairs. I„ the centre of each is a
srr.1: oicture of the late enamelled variety, very
ow :a tint and daintily drawn. The rest of the
surface is given over to arabesques enclosed within

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A Stained Glass Tour in Italy

grey and suin borders. The whole i, relieved
with , undo, small cupids, and judicious touches of
•oft blue or mulberry. Most of the oudining is
done m greyish brown. The borders are so deftly
interrupted now and again a, to olfiet the danger
of too many paraUel lines. The most westerly L
bear the date ,560. The only windows of t^s
agre^ble domestic type which surpass these are
the ftimous and much-traveUed Cupid and PykHc
series at ChantiUy. There are fewer pWr
excursions than that to the Certosa of the Val
d Ema, and, for specialists like ourselves, it is not
often that we can so conveniently examine such
excellent examples of two contrasting schools of
stained glass.

PRATO

SOMETIMES,. ^„^,,,„^^

of quiet, monotonous Prato i,T *' '""'"■»'

"^ oid. ,.«i^ ,.„ «,,, doo4 V-^™^; 7"«

pUiOng ,o,w into (he bnuds -h- T , ^ ^'"

«™ ever ,««i„g ^ „ , ^^ * ^^P' °f «"w
«rtn. of the bnud,, but ;dwi t . """

•«v. them back into It "^"^ ""8"'

-Wch =ha«cteri„,rke; rT'T"' "«^"^

' turning bring, y„„ ° ° "1" ■""« «'«"»

'-•on fion, the.o,e,.,ti„n~ H ^:"'^ P™"
' «'n"7 pwel, and „, ,a„e it hi """ "

' ""' " "« renuined secure
III

A Stained Glass Tour in Italy

for centurie., . relic of • buried put which h

calmly persisted, protected perhaps by its ve

insecurity. Nor is this the only strange expressic

of medievalism that has here lingered until oi

day—a medievalism as difficult to explain from oi

modern view point as it would be for Eric the R«

to understand an aeroplane. For instance, wh;

would to-d*; be said of a painter's audacity if h

should foUow the example of Filippo Lippi wher

in his femous frescoes at the cathedral, he show

us the face and figure of the nun that he won awa^

from her holy vows, and who was the mother of hi'

son Filippino Lippi. S.ic there appears both ai

Salome and Herodias, and yet there seems to have

been no objection by the church authorities to this

selection of lineaments by the great artist ! Truly,

"The times change and we change with them."

Before we set foot inside the cathedral, we are

already feeling its charm by reason of the graceful

circular pulpit on its outer corner about whose front

dances the delightful chorus of DonateUo's cherubs.

Attractiv too arc della Robbia's figures of majolica

set high in the western fa<.-ade. The importance

of this sacred structure is due to its possessiiig the

girdle of the Virgin, closely guarded and greatly

112

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III

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Ptato

honouml^ ,„d once „^ y^^ ^^jy

P«>pl. from rtc littl. pulpi, o„ttid.. „ f '"'

M.. ,h. ch.p.. behind d,e „«, confining f'"

" g.ven o«, „ „ d.bo,^ pi,^. „f ,^^
Md,„g ber girdle. .u™„„ded b, .„geU ^

7, "'"' "••^ «""P«™en«, c«h confining ,

of .hen^ h„e been „ne«d. The whole i, ,„
■o-ded by , rich border of „d „„„ Jl "
wnh golden ,iHe. Here .here ,ppe^ ^ J

Duon,o in Florence, „„e of .he ^Cn. L

conLthi.. ""'""«'•""'' "»»y --iicion.

The Church of M«ion„a deUe Crceri J„

merits a v wit ; it is „(• .l. . " "^

of the not unusual tj-pe of

I f
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A Stained Glass Tour in Italy

blunt Latin cross surmounted by a cupola. 01
stained glass fills three ample rectangular embrasure
stationed high up, one on the north, another on th
west, and the third on the south. The Visitatioi
scene on the north contains too much conventiona
architecture, and is chiefly interesting for th
excellent blue of one of the figures, and th
unusually deep purple of the other. The wes
window, showing the Annunciation, also has to(
much architecture, but here it is more ingeniousl)
employed, the colonnade running up firom left tc
right serving to centre attention upon the Virgin,
seated under a dainty classical pavilion. Far mori
pleasing is the Birth of Christ, on the south. Thi:
is really delightful — as well designed and colourec
as any window in Tuscany. Here there is nothing
stiff, only a simple picture. The dark blue back-
ground serves to throw out in strong relief the
Holy Family and kneeling angels, while the whok
colour scheme is brightened by the yellow of the
thatched roof and of Joseph's garment, both on the
left side. Above all shines the Star of Bethlehem.
It is a picture to store away in one's memory.

Come back with us to Florence toward sunset.
The hills on our left sometimes surge forward

114

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taly

)la. Old
ibrasures
;r on the
i^isitation
ventional

for the
and the
rhe west

has too
3;eniously
n left to
e Virgin,
?ar more
h. This
coloured

nothing
ue back-
elief the
he whole
w of the
h on the
:thleheni,

d sunset.

forward

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until they are threateningly dose upon us, and
again they silently withdraw in a strong receding
sweep, only to lunge forward again. All the while
the slowly dying sun is languidly shifting its tints
upon them from gay to grave— heather purple to
duU blue, to blue-grey, to grey, then sinking
into twilight, cheered by the twinkle of out-popping
lights.

i»5

LUCCA

PICTURE to yourself a range of mountains
running north-east and south-west, and
climbing up their slopes, or perched aloft
among them, many a picturesque village
or sturdy stronghold. At the foot of these hills
stretches off to the south a long plain ; upon this
plain at a point where other hills so encroach from
the south as to make of it a valley, lies Lucca.
Lucca, so often fought for, and conquered, and
bought, and sold — poor distracted, desirable Lucca!
Around about it are thrown high grass-grown
ramparts, now altered fix)m frowning batdcments
into smiling promenades where, as one takes the
air, he can gaze upon the city compacted within,
or else out across the narrowing plain to the hills,
or down the level valley that leads through them
to Pisa — 22 kilometres to the south-west. Many
times up and down that valley road to Pisa havf
marched and counter-marched bodies of armec

Ii6

-'gmmm

Lucca

men, more frequendy to the discomfort and dismay
of Lucca than of her stronger neighbour.

Unfortunate as she generally contrived to be,
Lucca enjoyed a short period of glory, for out of
the kaleidoscopic hurly-burly of petty stnfe which
constantly plagued the peninsula there emerged her
one great leader, Castruccio Castracane, during the
fifteen years of whose rule Lucca ruffled it with the
best of them. These despots of the Italian cities
were the logical outcome of the prevalent custom of
hiring professional soldiers to do the fighting while
the honest burghers confined themselves to safer
and on the whole more remunerative duties. But
this trade of the mercenary paid better and better,
and it is noteworthy that while in the middle of
the 14th century most of these gentry were from
beyond the Alps, by the end of that century they
were nearly all Italian. An interesting manifesUtion
of fiivouring home industries I Most of these
successful Condottieri enjoyed great local distinc-
tion, some became good rulers, few were very
nice. Their code of law was simple and easily
learned— "let him take that hath the power, and
let him hold that can." No picture of Italy in the
Middle Ages is complete unless you paint in

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sundry of these ruffians, and that, too, well in th,
foreground. They constituted a force seldom les;
powerful than the Church, frequendy more so.
Many were of engaging personality, although some-
what vague on morality, and not squeamish i„
matters of decency. Looks and personal charm
entered into it too ; Hewlett sapiently remarks,
"the Tuscans always suffered handsome tyrants
gladly." Generally these local over-lords contented
themselves with maintaining the mastery of one city,
although raiding others from time to time by way
of indulging their lust of fighting. They were a
cold-blooded lot, and cut throats for much the same
reason that children cut capers— to avoid ennui,
and to pass the time ! It would seem as if they
studied the laws of morality and decency so as
to provide themselves with rules to break— just
for the sheer joy of what Terence Mulvaney
called "putting your fUt through ivry livin'
wan av the Tin Commandmints between Revelly
and Lights Out." Some were really great men,
and founded dynasties of long duration like the
Medici of Florence and the Visconti and the
Sforzas of Milan. Many were of the type that
lived by the sword and died by the sword and

ii8

Lucca
Irfi no ^ behind ,h«,. Suchano„...l„!f„
Luca , hop. of l«ting pron,inenc.. „, C«,rucc,o

?"TL' """ ""■' "^ """ <"^ '^""'y

(«c.p«i from , pri«,„, „y „„. ,,^ ^^^ '

c.d» and over ftrce hundred walled towns, oveZ
«me the powerfUl Florentine, „o less than three
..me^ and suiged up to the very wall, of Genoa,-
"d dl to what purpose? He died in ,,j8, ,11
Tu^any at hi, me,^, „<, ,h, „^ „^^, ^^^

Emperor »Id hi, chief city. Lucca, to the highe,t
b,dder - But whUe Ctruccio lived he wa, a ™tch
for the be,, of them. Vil],„i ,ay, he wa, "limber
„ f' '"^ "^ " «~< «PP=.rance," and Hewlett
«II« hm, "a bareheaded fighter who never could
get enough of it, and hero of innumerable legends."
The great^t triumph of his life, ,he humbling of
Fio^ce, had its culminating scene in LuL,
^thedral church of San Martino. whither we are
bound for a sigh, „f the gWious windows of the

'o specal ac„v,ty by Castruccio's capture of their

and mnVfT r '" "^ '''"'" °^ ^''^'^ ^^e Sea
d - tof the. fnends. An .rmy .u. be .ised,

"' ^»^> ^-> of the best, for this man must be

i'9

^11

iiTTi TUMtr >ni" -~iniHT-

A Stained Glass Tour in Italy

humbled, and the peril of which he was the
embodiment avoided. Money was expended freely,
and mercenaries poured in from allies near and
fer, many of the knights coming from France and
Burgundy. A force of 20,000 men, equipped at
all points and especially strong in cavalry, set
out under command of Raymond of Cardona, to
chastise Castruccio and his Lucchesi. With the
soldiers went the fiimous Martinella, the great bell
of Florence, which never failed to accompany a
Florentine army. The campaign was a short one —
a fortnight sufficed to show Castruccio's superiority
both in strategy and honest hard fighting. The
victory was overwhelming, and the spoils of war
such as never before had Lucca enjoyed. The
entry into the city of the conquering army took
place on St. Martin's day, and to the great
church dedicated to that Saint marched Castruccio
and his victors. Before them went, to the joy of
the victors, the famous Martinella, mounted on its
great car, and dragged by oxen draped with th ■
once proud but now humbled lilies of Florence,
while after it walked the prisoners, headed by
General Raymond of Cardona, in his hand a lighred
candle to be placed on the altar of the cathediai.

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Lucca

No womier the worthy folk of Luce „e.rlj- w«„t
"Jd -.d, d.Iight«J prid.. «d cheeml and ch«™l
until lung, g,ve out, .„d , ,p^h,„,
fore. «.perven«l. Think on th,, mo« gloriou. day
otLueo « you ,t«,d befo,, S«, Martino', ornate
ftt«f.. It w, «ldom that any city .njoy«) such
a Joul-iatisfying triumph.

Th. Cathedral of &Unt Martin has it, apse
enbrdy gUzed in the beat style of th. pot-metal
«nopy penod. The architecture upon it is of th.
'^^ .chool. but is a. rich in Z colouring a!
anr other part of th. picture. Th. cntral en,,
brasure ,, ^der d,an it. two companion,, but all

Wht ,s ft, f „,^_ ^^^^^^_ .^ ^^ ^^^.^__^

of the hue. and the many d«„«tiv. d.t.ils such a.
*. ch„ub. holding back th. dr,p,ri«, etc. Th.
fr«que„t r«l lin« throughout th. groining of th.

««^.l,ectiveaswella,charac.eri,tic.%nth
centnU wmdow th. Annunciation scene at th. top
« a (in. one. The manner in which d,. two fig„r«
^- .und apart and are slightly turned tow J

n th Duomo at Florae.. Th. gr..„, h« „
l.v.shly and .Ifetivdy us«i, is, how«„, ftr rich„

121

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(ANSI and ISO TEST CHART No. 2)

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^ /APPLIED IN/MGE Inc

^^ 1653 East Main Street

^^ Rochester, New York 14609 USA

'■^g (716) *82 - 0300 - Phone

^^ (716) 288 - 5989 - Fax

V I

A Stained Glass Tour in Italy

than any to be observed in Florence, and has much
to do with the artistic strength of the ensemble.
Observe these windows carefUIly, for there is no
richer colouring in Italian glass.

Across the small square in front of the cathedral
lies the Baptistery of St. John, and off its northern
transept is a large chapel containing the ancient
baptismal font. In the east wall of this chapel is a
great round window of uncoloured panes within a
wide, rich border, and in the centre is placed a
commanding figure of John the Baptist of almost
life size. The contrast between the flesh tints and
the red cloak thrown about him is excellent.
Contrary to the usual Italian custom, it bears a date,
1572.

San Paolino has six of its windows glazed in
exceUent old glass, three in the west front, one at
the end of each transept, and one in the apse behind
the altar. This last named shows San Paolino
against a light tinted architectural background-
about the only instance in Lucca of a feilure to use
rich pot-metal glass in depicting stone work. The
embrasure above contains modern work. The back-
grounds of all these San Paolino pictures are of
warm blue. The appearance of brilliant red ribs in

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Lucca

the groining of the canopies makes one surmise that
they were by the same hand as those at the Cathedral.
The coloured borders are good, but not so strikingly
rich as the Cathedral ones. An unusually dark
purple robe strikes one's attention in the central
window of the west front, as does also strong red
in the garments of the figures in the lignts on each
side ; the palm branches in their hands indicate that
we are looking at martyrs.

A visit to Lucca leaves us with the vivid
impression of warm pot-metal colour combined
most effectively into a fine series of glass pictures.
The writer is not surprised that it became rather a
habit during the Middle Ages to capture Lucca.
He would very much like to have been present on
one of those occasions if only to have participated in
the loot to the extent of the three large windows of
the Cathedral ! In those days the transporting from
place to place of .tained glass windows was not at
aU unusual. The chapel of a certain English
country residence caUed The Vyne, near Basing-
stoke, is adorned with splendid French glass, Lord
Sandys' share of the booty (so runs the legend) when
the English took Boulogne, and brought home by
him thereafter to gladden his eyes in his beautiful

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A Stained Glass Tour in Italy

Hampshire home. His example is one which
deserves to be followed I It would have been
singularly satisfiuAory to have in like manner,
" personally conducted " the removal of these three
masterpieces from Lucca.

124

PISA

UPON the plain near where the Arno
finishes its long and winding journey
to the sea, sits Pisa, encircled by the
old machicolated walls, so long her
boast, and traversed by the now slow-moving river,
no longer needing the restraint of weirs as at
Florence, and sedately forgetful of its youthful
splashings adown the hilly valleys below Arezzo.
The heart of Pisa is the open space where are
stationed her four splendid trophies of ancient
magnificence, the Cathedral, the Baptistery, the
Leaning Tower, and the Campo Santo. Other
cities may and can rival any one of these four
^ories, but such a wondrous group is certainly
nowhere else to be seen, each by its position
respecting the dignity of its neighbours as nobly
as it safeguards its own beauty. Whether seen at
hot noonday, or in the weird moonlight— no matter
the hour or the season— these four lovely sisters of

125

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A Stained Glass Tour in Italy

me iiacval architecture seize a place in one's memory
from which nothing to be elsewhere seen can dis-
place them. Here the builders have foresworn the
temptations of coloured marbles, and have re-
mained constant to white — some black indeed to
afford the needed contrast, but stately white marble
is the dominant note of the picture that one carries
away from Pisa. White marble on a carpet of
green grass — a carpet so often spread for architect
ture in England, but almost never seen in Italy.
In one respect Pisa joins the group of cities headed
by Bourges, in that the blossoming power of the
whole town seems to have been concentrated at one
point. There is little of interest to be seen in
the city besides its marvellous group about the
Cathedral. But was there c er more variety shown
by four structures : — the low Campo Santo, the
sturdy, solemn dome of the Baptistery, the splen-
didly adorned Cathedral, and lastly, the daring
slant of the gallery-on-galleried Leaning Tower,
seemingly defying those sedate rules of architec-
tural poise which have made its more serious neigh-
bours so charming.

Nowadays Pisa is not a place in which one
lingers long, and it is somewhr^t of a surprise to

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, ■ )

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t\\

Pisa

learn that Shelley said, "ou- roots never struck so
deeply as at Pisa." It is difficult to realize rhe
former maritime importance of this quiet little
city m 7 removed seven miles from the Medi-
terranean by the gradual rising of the coast, inst-ad
of lying as formerly only twc miles from the
harbour of Porto Pisano, which sent forth victorious
fleets from the time of the 2nd Punic war until
Pisa's decline in the 14th century. This once
famous harbour has been so completely obliterated
by silt and sand that its exact site is no longer
known. Another erasure which time has here
effected is that of the forest of towers that must
once have made the city such a striking spectacle,
and which is so quaintly depicted on ancient coins
and medals. Of course it waS not unusual for an
early Italian town to contain many towers, for thus
were constructed the houses of the nobles. To-
day this architectural custom is best exempliried at
San Gemignano, but nowhere could there be found
a to»al that in any way approached the 16,000
towers with which the ancient chronrles credited
Pisa. No wonder one of them describes her appear-
ance as that of a sheaf of wheat, bound together by
the g-dlc of walh ! That they were lofty may be

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A Stained Glass Tour in Italy

deduced from the municipal regulation limiting
their height to ninety-five feet. Their bristling
array, soaring aloft above the meaner edifices, must
have made the streets of Pisa seem much as do
to-day the down-town thoroughfares of New York
City, running like caflons between the thirty- and
forty-story « skyscrapers " on either side.

For those who are interested in the study of
columns, there is here collected a rich store for their
delectation. The conquering Pisan, whether his
victories were won in Spain or Africa or the Holy
Land or the Islands of the Mediterranean, never
failed to bring home sundry columns as part of his
booty. There are over 450 of them, of every
clime, colour, and shape, in the Duomo alone,
while many more are scattered through the other
churches, and the better sort of houses. As show-
ing the esterm in which columns were held by the
citizer t, it i. mteresting to relate that a pair made of
red porphyr)' were presented by them to Florence
for protecting the women, children, and old men,
the only population left in Pisa when she undertook
a crusade to drive the Moslems out of Sardinia.
The Florentines camped two miles outside the city,
over against the threatening Luccans, and so jealous

128

Pisa

were they of the security of the defenceless Pisan
wor.en, that no Florentine soldier was allowed to
e' icr the gates under pain of death, it \vas only
once necessary to enforr- this penalty I This very
pair of columns may to-day be seen fastened to
either side of the doorway of the Baptistery at
Florence, mute rei ..nders of both civic honour and
civic gratitude.

There have been a long series of conquerors of
the M*- :erranean, and the more one studies them,
the more similar do they become. But of the
Pisan maritime supremacy durinj, the nth and
nth centuries there is one outstanding feature that
elevates it above the others, viz. : the insistance by
the Pisans that they set up their own law courts
wherever they gained a foothold. Sometimes they
obtained this right by diplomacy, in the case of
their courts in the Moslem citi. of Cairo and
Alexandria. Sometimes they gained it by gallant
fighting, as witness the many grants of this privi-
lege won by them in the Holy Land while battling
for the Cross. Their splendid valour during the
Crusades cannot be gainsaid, even if one doubts
their boast that a Pisan was first over the walls at the
taking of Jerusalem. In view of their traditional

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respect for law and the dignity of the court

it is not surprising that when in 1135 they toe

Amalfi their most cherished trophy and the one t

which the citizens paid the greatest honours, m

a copy of the Pandects of Justinian ! The juris

of Pisa codified the maritime laws on more than or

occasion ; the one effected in 1075 was approve

by both Pope Gregory VII and Emperor Henry I\

Of their « Consolato del Mare " or written code c

maritime law, Hallam says, "it has definec' th

mutual rights of neutral and belligerent vessels, an,

thus laid the basis of the positive law of nation

in its most important and disputed cases." It i

obvious that in the midst of such a people then

must have existed a sound school of law, and so i

was and so it is, for the University of Pisa and it!

law school is still, after many centuries of honourec

and useful existence, recognized as among the besl

in Italy. A creditable figure was the sturdy Pisar

of the city's Golden Age, carrying his sword and hi;

law court to every shore of the Mediterranean

Sea, then the equivalent of the Seven Seas oi

to-day.

But it is time for us pilgrims to remember
the purpose of our visit, so let us make our

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Pisa

way to the Cathedral. There i, but little of the
old glass left in the unique series of grouped
lancets that pierce the west front, a grouping
seen nowhere else-four together, then, as the
cjrc descends, three together, two, then single
lancets. Along the lower side of the nave aisles
there is a treat awaiting us, fourteen rectangular
windows, seven on each side, all but three filled
with one scene above and another below, no
attempt at canopies-nothing but the telling of
stones, always so engrossing to every age. Here
IS delightfully preserved the traditions of the rich
warm pot-metal colour which so endears Italian
glass to the student. Deeply toned windows of
many hues, little paint, and as many figures as you
like, regardless of the additional labour required
to lead them in. Colour and story, esthetic sense
and love of tale-teUing, aU are gratified. In these
windows there seems to have been perpetuated
the story-telling genius which in other countries
stopped abruptly at the close of the mosaic medal-
ions. Elsewhere than in Italy the glazier of
the Hth and ,5th centuries turned his attention
to figures in canopy, but at Pisa, fortunately for
us, he refused to be bound down by the prim

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A Stained Glass Tour in Italy

conventionalities of the canopy, and he also con-
tinued to delight us with the rich hues of pot-
metal glass instead of the thinner colours used
by his contemporaries of the north. As we look
upon this entertaining array of Biblical s'>:ories we
are not surprised to learn that Pisan glaziers were
summoned to work at Florence and elsewhere.
Not only did ^the Florentines envy the maritime
glory of the Pisans, but they also appreciated,
and were glad to employ the artistic ability which
the early Pisan successes caused to spring up and
flourish in that city near the sea.

132

SIENA

HOW strange it would seem if one were
to read that it had been decided to
hold horse races in Grarnercy Park,
New York, or in the Palace des Vosges,
Paris, or in Trafalgar Square, London. « Impos-
sible 1 " you would exclaim—" there isn't room
enough, the track would be too small I " And yet
that is just what happens on the second of July and
the sixteenth day of August of each year, in the
small cup-like open space lying before the Palazzo
Pubblico in Siena. Yes indeed, and thrilling
races too, the jockeys cracking their whips, the
horses galloping madly around the small track,
and every inch of available space below or in the
windows, or on the housetops packed — literally
packed with a shouting, delirious multitude of
onlookers I It may not be a fair t-^st of the
horses' speed, but it certainly is of horsemanship,
and furthermore it vastly pleases all concerned, so

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A Stained Glass Tour in Italy

what more can one ask? Lasdy, and also o
great importance, it preserves an ancient custom
and that is worth much in these iconoclastic times
Therefore, oh 1 Siena, long live the annual rejoicing
which the running of the Palio brings to youi
ancient municipality !

What a city of differing beauties have W(
here ! Of scenic beauty, if one looks down upor
the rolling valleys below from the top of th«
Palazzo Pubblico, or back upon the charming city
from the rampart promenades of the Lissa fortress,
Of theatrical beauty, if one peeps down some
narrow street upon the semi-circular Piazza del
Campo, backed by the Palazzo Pubblico while
far aloft shoots the Mangia, one of the world's
most graceful towers. Especially is this beauty
theatrical, if seen in the glamour lent by moon-
light, although delightful enough without that
added charm. And when we wander up the
narrow, winding streets and come out upon the
space about the cathedral itself, do we not find
yet another, ai I a very special beauty .?— that of
judicious elaboration of detail in decoration. No
church in Christendom can boast of such pains-
taking treatment of every square foot of surface

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Siena

within, or on its western facade without. Different
indeed are the varied beauties of this ancient
city, but aU unite to exert their special fascina-
tions upon the stranger. In this s:me spirit
of contrast Siena differs from her sister hilUitics
—not so sweepingly lofty as Perugia, nor so
steeply remote as Orvieto. She seems desirous
to mask her elevation, for the ascent is at most
points gradual, and there is a decided uplift in
the country round about. Tl.en, too, the rail-
road succeeds in mounting to Siena, although it
has to employ a switchUck to do so, but it does
not even attempt that feat at Cortona, or Orvieto,
or Perugia, or Assisi. If, to enjoy the view, you
have mounted to the top of the Palazzo Pub-
blico, do not ful to visit its sumptuous halls,
frescoed by Sodoma, Simone Martini, Lorenzetti,
and many another master of the Sienese school!
But the great blossom of tJic city's architectural
wealth must be sought at the cathedral. Most
of the open space about it proves, on inspection,
to have been intended for the interior of the huge
edifice originaUy projected. Around half the open
square we still see the inside walls of the first-
planned structure, their courses of white and

»35

A Stained Glass Tour in Italy

black marble harmonizing with the exterior o
the completed church. Fortunately, this over
ambitious plan was never carried into eflfect, fc,
the church as we see it to-day, although smallei
in size, has obviously benefited by the concentra
tion of ornament. The west front is a riot ol
coloured marbles and Gothic sculpture, while ai
the eastern end the slope of ground permitted
the construction of an under-church, used as a
Baptistery, itself boasting of a graceful ^ade.

It is doubtful if there is anjrwhere another
church possessing such a bewildering array of
different sorts of decoration as that which bur«ts
upon us when we enter the interior. Wherever
we look something has been sculptured or painted
or built — the forest of black and white columns
with their finely chiselled capitals, the delicately
sculptured tombs, the rich frescoes of Pinturicchio,
the army of little figures upon the imposing marble
pulpit, the choir stalls gleaming in the sombre
beauty of their old wood, the pavement intricately
pictured in black and white marbles, while from
the cornice far above looks down a long row of
benignant papal countenances. So on we go
through many a quaint and alluring detail, until

136

Siena

we reach our gbss, displayed in two circular em-
brasures, both of noble proportions, one at the
western end, r ' the other at the eastern. The
latter is the earlier, and is of the mosaic period.
None of its contemporaries can boast of such careful
and weU-balanced treatment as is shown in the nine
compartments into which its surface is subdivided
by the stout iron saddle bars, so-called because o*
the duty they discharge in supporting so great a
weight of gk.3 and lead. Certain deUils (such
as the wavy outline of thi medaUions enclosing
four of the figures) are so reminiscent of some
at Orvieto and in the lower church at Assisi,
that one is inclined to call the window a contem*
porary of those others : this would place it just
after the middle of the 14th century. We know
from the records that Bonino and Angioletto di
Gubbio worked upon the windows at all three of
these places, which tends to confirm the datine
selected. ^

The general effect of the eastern occhio is the
usual clear blue of its period, but warmed up bv
judicious use of many colours. Note the unusual
treatment of the gay borders, each of the nine sub-
divisions being different, and yet harmonizing so

137

\> ;

)l t

> Ik I

S'i

A Stained Glass Tour in Italy

completely that these differences are not at first
observed. The three large panels running down
the middle contain sceiies, each made up of a
number of figures. Below is the death of the
Virgin, in the centre her ascension, and above is
her coronation. Notice the lilac used for the death
bed in the lowest picture, and also the grouping.
In the central panel there is a fine toss to the
angels' wings, and in them an adroit combination
of lilac, red, and other contrasting tints In the
coronation scene, the broad golden bench serves
to centralize one's attention upon the two person-
ages seated thereon, while about it are grouped
angels of vrrious hues. Some of the halos arc red
and some yellow, as is also the case in the lowest
scene— this shows the work to be early. Very
skilful is the handling of the nearly triangular spaces
at what may be called the four corners of the
window. An Evangelist is seated in the taller
portion ot each, while the rapidly decreasing re-
mainder of each space is deftly fitt-sd with his
appropriate symbol — the lion for St. Mark, etc.
On both sides of the central panel are two saints,
each within a medallion, whose wavy border recalls
those at Assisi and Orvieto. No more interesting

138

IMKKIciK. sIKVA i MHI.lM! \l

I" ill- 1..I. k;r.,u'l,l i, ||h> liiirM .».li f ilir lM-.,i. |,..,i ■! i„ ll.,K. !■- fin

P-"l""'i:~ • ..■• /t,lv.- ;;:■ '.111 I..- , Ir.ilU .l|.MM:'ui-lM.\ S u- llif ti. \,l\ ,,\. Ilirr

p.ni-mrul. III,. ,.„.,|,,. ,,l |ia|,:,| |„.,i,U ,-1, . '

4f
¥1

if i

Siena

« more b«utifi.l chef-d'aavre of tte Ittfe mosaic
type exists.

Altogether different is the fine occhio at the
western end designed in 1549 by Raphael's scholar,
Penno de Vaga. It was executed by Pastonno
the versatile pupil of William de MarcUlat, whose
skiU m gazing was equalled by his remarkable
medals and coins, as weU as his coloured portraits
in wax and stucco. Unfortunately, Pastorino's pro-
bity was not so well developed as his artistic nature
for we read that having been paid for the window,'
he tned to decamp without finishing it, causing the
citizens the painfb! necessity of locking him up in
order to ensure the continuance of his residence
among them and the completion of his task. In
this window we see the fiill-blown Renaissance with
Its classical colonnades, garlands, cherubs, etc all
complete. It depicts the Last Supper, but in
perhaps too conventional and ornate a fashion.
There is certainly too much architectural back-
ground, notwithstanding an attempt to relieve it
by abundant strands of flowers, festoons of bright
nbbons, and gay cherubs disporting themselves in
most unexpected places. The border is noteworthy
for Its simphcity-merely a plain moulding run

139

A Stained Glass Tour in Italy

around inside the embrasure. The window is u
deniably fine, but it suffers by comparison with
older sister at the other end of the chvirch.

Before going out, let us pass from the left si
of the nave into the famous Piccolomini Librai
which is entirely fi-escoed by Pinturicchio in I
most brilliant manner — a memorial erected by Po
Pius III to his kinsman, Pius II. Its twr t
windows are each surcharged with a large blasi
of the ^mily, their golden cref!'*'ints on a bl
cross being surrounded by an a ^^le green wrea
reminiscent of those which hang in our windo
at Christmas time. These wreaths are frequent
used in Italy to frame coats of arms.

The small church of Fontegiusta has a spec
claim upon the attention of the American travelli
for over its entrance are suspended some weapo
presented by Christopher Columbus, together wi
the large bone of a whale, the latter perhaps assis
ing the arms to testify to his having conquered ti
Atlantic as well as its western shore. Betwei
these interesting trophies is a small round windo
of good glazing and noticeably fine drawin
Standing upon a red and gold pavement are tl
Virgin and Child between St. Catherine of Siei

140

Siena

and St. Dominic. A railing done in the Classical
manner gracefully divides the background, and
assists the rich blue above it to throw out the
figures in bold relief.

Siena, perched on her three connecting hills,
is not an easy city to leave, for in addition to her
many picturesque attractions there are few places in
Italy where one can so easily make a comparative
study of the entire course of medieval art.

Eighty-five kilometres south of Siena lies
Grosseto, near the sea, and in its principal church
is an interesting 15th century window. This is a
long trip to make for one window, and it is only
mentioned in case the traveller is purposing to tarry
so long in Siena that he will have plenty of time
at his disposal to visit all the points of interest in
the neighboiirhood.

141

BOLOGNA

(C,

THOSE two agreeable adjectives,
feshioned" and "mysterious," ;
somehow pleasantly blended when o
thinks of an arcaded street. To th(
picturesque charms there should be added t
practical recommendation of protection from be
sun and rain. Thus to combine beauty and utili
must satisfy even the most exacting Ruskin of
all. And to enjoy this combination we must reps
to Bologna, which, more than any other city in t
world, is the "Arcady of Arcades." Nor are h
arcades in any way monotonous, for each hous
holder has pleased his own fancy in constructii
that portion of the covered sidewalk running belo
his dwelling, and so you wander, semi-subterr
neously, through all parts of the city, careless aliJ
of rain or sunstroke, happy in the protection ar
quaint beauty of these sheltered ways. Just ho
Bologna strikes the passing aeroplanist it is still to
early to enquire. All he can see is the driveway (

142

Bologna

the streets, and his first passage over the city must
give h.m the impression that its citizens are all too
opulent or too haughty to travel on foot, since he
»ees only vehicles or cavaliers. But the time is at
hand to adjust our point of view so as to include
that of the voyager by aeroplanes, and Baedeker
must soon add birdVeye views to his treasury of
•mpressions at second hand. Perhaps we shall soon
read m his pages, "Thanks to the arcaded streets of
Bologna which obscure foot passengers from the view
of passmg aeroplanes, the city is readily recognized
by traveUers in those vehicles. Care should be taken
to avoid striking any of the towers of this town,
two of wh,ch are leaning ones, and are veiy useful
as a landmark for those planing down from a
distance. Bologna peculiarly deserves this refe-
rence to the newest manifestation of applied science,
for m that field she has always been most pro-
8^«ve. It was here that Marconi, a gifted 'son
of her anaent umversity, made the first practical

emonst^t^on of that crowning wonder 'of :;

T.. 7"^' "'"'"^ ^^^^-^"P^^- This feat re-
vives the memory of a similar one by Galvani

^;:^^^^---^ ^vanism in ,,8^. u2
- her umve«,ty that took place that dramatic

(11^

■y

A Stained Glass Tour in Italy

scene, the first scientific dissection of the huma
body.

To reach Bologna the traveller from Florcni
has spent several hours in climbing and tunnellir
the mountain wall by which the Apennines shut c
Tuscany from the fertile flatness of Lombard
The very monotony of the plain on which the ci
stands makes one all the more receptive of tl
many picturesque attractions within it.

The stained glass of Bologna proves entire
adequate to the promise of interest which the aspe
of the city holds out to the arriving pilgrim. Tl
standard is a high one, for in addition to the lab
rinth of arcades, and the leaning towers swayii
across each other, there are the high-perch
column-borne tombs at the street corners, the the?
ricaUy impressive public square set about with grc
buildings from the storied past, etc. San Petroni
the largest ecclesiastical edifice in the city, is t
richest in stained glass, but many of its winda
were destroyed, and that too in an unusual fashic
It was here that Charles V was crowned Emper
by Pope Clement VII, and during the public rejo
ings which followed this momentous event, t
discharge of artillery salutes played havoc with t

144

t
f ■

^^M|K

|l'

^^^^^^^B^^^wi 1

^^^^^^^kI^^B ^b

\ :

nil

'f i

mKm Vi

I ;

^^^^^^^n iHB 1

^K^Kmln 1

f -i ^

iRHIMll

B^^^hV^^^Ic ^v^^BB/ ^^C

HH^HlBim 1

* "

^^■JHB

1^^

i^rH

llr^

^wKi''

^^w Hi bE ^ >

Bologna

of .p«.d privilege » „„„, g J .„_, .f^;

The chu^h „ i, ,„„d, ^ ,, « 8^-«-

onginj and ovtr-ambitious d«iM a„/

one long „,ve g,„u^ y, , *"' '"'' """«» of

opportunity for comparative study of differ. I

periods and methods of glazing all h '

to the same sized .mh ^* °'^''''^' ^"<=d

wmc sized embrasures, but ranaJn^ <l

•he stronger p,e.„«„ colouring .oT h^""
«»mplc of peeled .„.„.!. T^*.;L t "1

by St. James of Ulm TK. u , '^""^

«intly had been hi, life LZI °^ '^' "^ »

--..o^eaa/t^rrr::

'45

•; 1 1

jam ■

^11

^Ri

||:

'ii

1^1

iruii

A Stained Glass Tour in Italy

canonized. The fetUval of this saint fell upon
second Sunday of October, and was for many j
religiously observed by the company of glassma
in Paris. His charming window, made about i
shows a Helightl\il Italian adaption of the nort
canopy type. It reveals careful attention to d(
while his years spent in Italy show themselve
the richness of every part of the shrines. 1
how the intricate Gothic pinnacles that top
small structures are thrown out against the (
blue. One is at a loss whether to bestow gre
admiration upon the glowing mosaic borders, or
use of such soft tints as mulberry or sage gr
It is doubtful if the northern style can show a I
canopy window, and yet you have only to cross
nave to the fourth chapel from the west to see
incomparably richer is the Renaissance architec
of the Italian, Cossa, lavish in his use of pot-n
blues, greens, and purples. His simulated si
work is as deep in warm colour as his figures. '
fifth chapel on the lefi side was glazed by Lore
Costa, but unfortunately he painted the glass
much, unwilling seemingly to rely upon the cole
ing introduced during its manufacture. It aff<
a striking argument against painting the surf

146

Bologi

jna

His yellow inclines to brownish ««

on the right boMt, no les. a H ^''* *«''**' '^^"P^'

-^ied upon enamelled cow TH^; '"*":'"
disastrously for m «« l ^" ''""^ted

"^ lav. hwdsoroe bold t«cerv IWh, T
"hwe central featur. ;. i ^ *^" »'»'«.

"»m ««y .o «1«, Not. Thl ' , °: """ "■"■'
•h«ch,pd„f,h.p2" . . *""' *"^' """" '■>

y«o„,|,engl,t,ideof,hea,u,xh„f
'47

A Stained Glass Tour in Italy

the MtMricordi«. These lut named htve been
locally accredited to St. James of Ulm (in the tame
generous manner in which good German glass is
firequently usigned to Albrecht Diirer), but none of
our comiwny will hesitate to render unto Francia
the things that are Francia's. His slender borders
are carefully drawn, particularly th; one in San
Martino where the pine cones of the Poltroni arms
are repeated, but without too much accent upon
them. Francia seems to have preferred to paint his
figures in low blue and white, with stronger blue
and some green in the background.

A famous bull's eye of the larger type is to be
seen in the west fi^nt of San Giovanni in Monte.
It is by Cossa, thi irtist who glazed the fourth
chapel on the left in San Petronio. The seven
lamps of St. John's vision are seen ranged across
the sky, while the Saint himself (in yellow, red,
and green) is seated in a brown mountunous land-
scape, scattered over which are small green trees,
and here and there a tiny village of bright red.
The gay border of typical Italian arabesques
contains so much of the same blue as that used
in the picture as to make the ensemble a very blue
one. It is as interesting as you can well imagine,

148

X.lvMwI.I ,, . '"^■'^' '■^'"<"M"', BOI.OC.NA

^■li.,,»l,.|.„„||,y [.,,„■„/,,(■...,.,. ,|„.«r,-.,

"1 tlll^.ll^. "■'""" '""^'"'V'-, ..rif ..fllirmrirn «,,,,!,..,, ii, J

)

Bologna
bu. u„d.„i,W, coar^r in d«,g„ and colou. U,.„
we Hve a right to expect of its period.

■r,TZ "*■ f" "■"V"™" ''e'-" of this ancient
--.« a hddle of seven churches of diffe^n.

of..mefromth.4th,o.he.7thcentu,y. We shall
be ch.efl, .nterested in «,» one dedicated to St

Pe^ and St Paul, for there in the east wall, „
weD as over the apse, are slender lancets filled ^ith
^.slucentpinkalabast.. What a long road it is

fi^nth^slend. lights to the triumphs of Cossa
and St. James in San Petronio I

j »

I ft!

149

VENICE

U i i

¥'■■

EVERYONE of us possesses a privat
picture gallery called « Memory." Som
' of its rooms are kept swept and garnished
and are often entered to enjoy ane\
scenes long ago visited. In others of the room
the pictures are sadly faded ; perhaps there ar
certain doors of which the keys have bee
lost ! Whoever has seen Venice will agree thj
its place in the memory gallery is a bright an
glowing corner, and one to which we frequent]
resort. The glories of this amphibious queen <
the Adriatic have been so often painted, sung, an
written, and from so many angles and points (
view, that whoever, at this late day, ventures i
write of her should be called upon in advance i
justify his temerity. As a guarantee, therefore, i
our good fiiith, let us promptly plead our excus
which shall be, that for stained glass enthusias
Venice is of distinct interest because she was tl
factory from whence came most of the materi

150

Venice

i !r,."'t "'"''°"' "'""«'""« "">■• Furthermore,

tin t,^'"T °' *" ""' ■"" "'«'' » %-"■
2= «". « " bu. proper .ha. we visit the ci,, which

««. the poreal through which that art entered the

P=n.n.uU The mor«U of glass which compose

fce wealth of mosaic of which Venice righdy bLs

!»« for centuries been manuftctured on ti,e islands

of the lagoon. It was from Byzantium that Venice

learned th.s art, and it is both to the designers of

mo^,c, and the Venetian glass blowers that Italian

wmdows owed ti,eir beginnings and their early

■mpetus. Such is our excuse for asking you to

-., or re-visit, Venice; an excu. is Ldy all

«.« you require, for no a.^„e„t has ever been

necessa.7 to turn a pilgrim's footsteps towards the

- of gondolas." the echoes of whose music

o"ur:ar?'uT.'^""'°'"'«'""'"8"»'<'»g-
our ear Is V.„,ce more glorious in the glow of

hesays? *"'"'''«" »gree, no matter what

of ancent argosies richly laden from the Levant
Pushmg in from the Adriatic and dmnn T

off that r,^ . ' ""ropprng anchor

Off that rosy masterpiece of architecture known as

■51

.11!

IV *

A Stained Glass Tour in Italy

the Doge's Palace. Nor is it difficult to pictur
to oneself the sumptuously adorned barges of th
Republic sweeping out to sea to solemnize th
wedding of the Doge with the Adriatic, thu
officially symbolizing to all the world Venice'
proud assumption of controlling the gateway t
the opulent East. But it will not be easy for th
reader to believe that this same Venice was one
filled with the filthy smoke of glass furnaces, an
yet this will be as true a picture as the others, fc
toward the end of the 13th century the success c
the Venetian glass blowers was such that thei
furnaces abounded in every quarter of the city. S
numerous did they become that the city father
decided that they were injurious to the publi
health, and banished them beyond the limits (
the municipality. They sought refuge on th
Island of Murano and certain others near by, s
that Venice abated the smoke nuisance withoi
losing control of this profitable trade. Viewe
from a purely modern standpoint this action c
the Great Council seems difficult to understanc
Suppose, for example, it were to-day suggeste
that all cigar makers be banished from Havam
or all steel plants from Pittsburgh, or all ^ctorie

152

Venice
fe.m Birmingham, such seep,. how=v.r bencSdJ
to the pubhc h«U,h of «,„„ citi« would, „e fear
prove ve^r di«u>trou, ,o die pr^u health of their
.d«».te,. One i, moved to wonder whether any

forthepubhc hedth. Ma,, it not have been that
cer^n of .he cit,ftthe„ received warning, eith

F,«T IT" " °*'™'''' °' Birminghams and
P.«sburgh, yet unborn I We have j„,t observed
that car. was «ken that in banishing the furnaces
«l.c pockets of Ac citizens should not lose tie
P^«.s of their smok, chimneys. Nor „:%!■

:H::iT:::..rra::^^ir"''^'^"

^;«. .1. ■ . ™"""enzed thf. action of the

c ty authonfe^ From ,ha records of Assh^^
Florence Arazzo, and elsewhere, we learn thai «

"Imt^ T* •*"' "■' ''"'•^" S>«i- were

Zrcf'th ' "" " '^'"' "■' -«°™ for

gro-IM of them to travel .-rom place to olace i„H

-mble their glass into windows'after; tig:
of "oc^l arfsts. The. bands of artisans so !„

r t^m L *= ^"""" ^o""^' -"''-"
•hem to ob..„ permission to undertake Jtracts!

■53

A Stained Glass Tour in Italy

but even, as in one instance at Assisi, forbidd
more work than that for which loo lire would b
proper compensation. In order to guard the c
against the loss of its profitable monopoly th
itinerant workmen were prohibited from setti
up glass furnaces in any other city. The mi
one reads the history of Venice and learns si
details as these, the easier is it to understand i
commercial importance which its merchants ;
quired. So far from fearing monopolies, ev(
nerve was then being strained to build them
and hold them ^st.

We may as well promptly admit that there
but little stained glass now to be seen in Veni(
Indeed, there remains none of importance exc(
what was once the splendid window at the Chui
of SS. Giovanni e Paolo, which unfortunately m
allowed to fall into bad condition. It consists
one large subject spread across four lights,
treatment unusual in Italy. It is interesting
observe the manner in which the artist worked i
his blues, passing from pale tints in the water i
a deeper tone in the sky, and deeper yet in tl
hills. The drawing of the subject is more ui
restrained than one would expect from its dat

154

[taly

forbidding
ould be a
i the city
x>ly these
m setting
rhe more
arns such
stand the
hants ac-
ies, every
them up

t there is
n Venice.
ice except
le Church
lately was
insists of
lights, a
esting to
orked up
water to
et in the
nore un-
its date,

. , V"'*'^'" ">■ TORCEI.I.O CATHKriRM

t I

'ZUHHr

v^Hi

^V'^'

Venice

which is 1473. By way of eking out this one
window we would recommend a visit to TorceUo,
an island in the lagoon. Its cathedral contains
some early embrasures fiUed with slabs of trans-
'ucfnt alabaster. No one realizes more than the
writer how difficult it is when one has reached
Venice and surrendered tc its charm, to leave it
even for so short a trip as that to the neighbouring
islands of Torcello and Murano. It should be
attempted, however, for, although they are not so
magnificent as their sumptuous sister, they have
the merit of preserving their ancient appearance
almost intact The archives in many Italian
churches teM of agents being sent to fetch Murano
glass for their glaziers. Several eariy references
are made in the Assisi records to such purchases,
nor was this trade confined to any one epoch, for it
per-sted for many centuries. Even as late as 1525,
William, de MarciUat sent his pupil, Maso Porro,'
to buy Murano glass for use in the great windows
at Arezzo.

Although the primary purpose of our tour is
the study of glass, it can in no wise be considered
an infidelity to that purpose if we recommend that
the mosaics at Venice be carefUUy observed. They

»55

A Stained Glass Tour in Italy

were designed by men who provided the drawi
for the early windows, and it is because of ti
that the first period is named for their mo
medallions. Therefore the inspection of
Venetian mosaics will be of distinct service
enabling us to come to an understanding j
appreciation of the designs of the early glass
Assisi, Orvieto, and Siena.

U-iY*

156

MILAN

ONCE upon a time „.„ , ,„j, ,„„„
lymg soueh of Bologn, , „^^y
Pf^"' '^ interrupt hi, daily a>k

. »'^ '"™''»8 »<»d in Ihc forest to regale
l..m«If „,h a »gh. of one of the n,a„y troops^^f

""""""" '" "" "■" overrunning Ly
B«ve y ..re .hey armed, and exceUendy „„„ J
^whether their pay „a, peaeefi.«y dLn fro^
.own, employing rt,i, „„i ^ ^-^

wrenched fton, the treasu^ of captured citi..

"".e ,t d,d and in abundance. No wonder h:
^y wa, .ntere,.ed, for the cur„nt tale, of he
adventures of these condottieri we« enough o
aptivate boyish finer I. i. , ^

S J u- '^' ""'PPened that thev

nofced .h,s strongly bnlt Ud leanine uoon V

- Recruit, of hi, phy,i,ue were .ly ':;^r

mwed h.ra to jom the troop. Hi, u„u,uai repl.
!.« comedown in histoty,-.., „„, ^„, '^
.nu> ti.e branche, of .hat oak and if i. ,.ays ^«,":

"57

.1
1

A Stained Glass Tour in Italy

I will go with you." The axe sUyed where it y

flung, and there joined them the boy afterwar

fiimous as the founder of the House of Sfor;

a family that for over three hundred years govern

the duchy of Milan, and exercised potent influer

beyond the boundary of the fertile plains of Lo

bardy. He was both a thrifty and an industric

soul, was this same Francesco. Some time af

the death of our friend Castruccio Castracanc (w

whom we marched into the cathedral at Luce

Francesco went that way on a business trip, polit

termed a military campaign. So business-like t

he that after he had been paid by Paolo Guin

ruler of Lucca, for driving off the besieg

Florentines, he accepted 50,000 ducats from

said Florentines to take himself promptly out

Tusci.ny, which he did, but not before pocket

another 12,000 ducats from the Luccans for driv

out the same Guinigi on whose business France

had originally left home. Once, when Galea

wanted to make a formal entry into Milan 01

Saturday, Francesco wrote him to change his j

" for on that day the ladies will be washing tl

hair, and the troops have their work to d

Pleasure was never allowed to interfere v

158

taly

•re It was
ifterwards
)f Sforza,
governed
influence
of Lom-
ndustrious
time after
cane (with
It Lucca),
p, politely
9>lilce was

Guinigi,
besieging
from the

tly out of
pocketing
For driving
F'rancesco
\ Galeazzo
4ilan on a
re his plan
shing their

1 to do."
rfere with

Milan

Hu.ineM. when Francesco had hi, say. The history
of the city's growth in strength and imporUnce.
a» well a. that of the building of its principal
monuments is wrapped up in the history of the
Sforzas. Of all the fiin,ilies of despots which,
dunngthe Middle Ages, governed the cities of
I^y. the Sforzas of Milan and the Medici-, of
Florence stand out pre-eminent not only for their
strong rule but also for the benefits which resulted
therefrom to their people.

Foreigners generally remember Milan as the
city which lies about the cathedral of Milan » The
hroad, busy thoroughferes of this modernized
metropohs. the fine large shops, and the omni-
present t.am-cars all combine to obscure from u,
.ts stoned past. Its commercial importance is but
natural, stationed as it is. ««the middle city" rfor
that .s the story of its name) between the lands
north of the mountains and the oft-embattled cities
of the Italian peninsula to the south. Its bustlin.
successful present contrives to crowd out memori::
of the time when Emperor Constantine selected it
as the capital of the western half of his Empire.
But what If all this modernity does so thrust Llf
forward as to push the ancient city into an obscure

159

A Stained Glass Tour in Italy

background !— that same submerged antiquity ha

its revenge in so stamping our memory with th

image of the vast cathedral as to eflface all othe

local impressions. And what a cathedral !— th

like of it exists nowhere else. Here stands froze

into stone the centuries-long struggle between th

builders who wished it to speak in northern Gothii

and they who fevoured the Latin basilica— a hug

structure that displays both the much-desired heigl

of the north, and the roomy breadth of the souther

architect. Nor is the contrast between these tM

characteristics any more marked than that betwec

the spacious reddish brown interior and the exterii

of glittering white, with its upward discharge

volley on volley of sculptured pinnacles. Whir

sically appropriate to this thought is it that ti

army of two thousand carved figures was add

during the Napoleonic era. Many as are t

criticisms that may be directed at this adaptati(

by southerners of northern Gothic, it is impossib

to deny that the result is impressive. Effective

always is — brilliant in its glitter under the noond

sun, or ghostly in the mysterious pallor it assuir

as the twilight is closing into night. Moonlig

puts life into the myriad figures that people

i6o

triu..r,V.. i, , learly Z" S. '^ ','^T''' ^^ ''"" ''' ""■ "■^■"^f"! line, .,f ,|„,-,. v , ,

i^^^^^^^^Fi

Milan

roof and changes it to a fairyland of silent folk
mutely recaUing the past so completely stifled
dunng the d^ by the modern city on every side.

We have spoken of the reddish brown tone of
the mterior, and of this effect let us remark that
It IS as helpful to the great array of stained glass
as are the coloured windows to it. Each helps the
other to produce as harmonious a bower of light
as one can anywhere see. Strangely enough, there
IS none of the usual jarring contrasts between the
I6th century windows and their neighbours of the
15th century. The same warm colour scheme
sweeps round the church from one side to the
other, even where, as in the apse, it is obvious
that modern glass has been used to eke out whole
sections of the huge embrasures, the old patterns
and colours having been followed in an unusuaUy
reverent manner. The result is an harmonious
whole-a well-attuned chant in melodious tone and
tmt that echoes all about us. You will see finer
individual windows in many another church, but it
IS rare to come upon such a gratifying sense of
undisturbed continuity of colour scheme, and that
too m such amazing quantity. Indeed, the pro-
portions of the edifice are so ample that an ordinary

161 „

r t

A Stained Glass Tour in Italy

amount of stained glass would have been lost in
Even the side aisles are lofty enough to have bi
the naves of most cathedrals, while so broad is
space upon which we enter that we are at f
deceived as to the unusual height and breadth
of the embrasures. Large as these are, they
exceeded by the lavish proportions of the hi
windows that stand at the east behind the h
altar. Of these latter, each has twelve lane
crossed by a graceful Gothic transom. The wh
expanse of each window is broken up into a sei
of small, scenes one above the other — eleven
some lancets and ten in others, depending on wh
the transom happens to cross. These transoms
used to assist the effect of most of the windc
in the church, and general also is this system
glazing in small scenes. These little groups
almost exclusively used on the south side of i
nave, but opposite, on the north side, some of i
pictures are carried right across the embrasu
regardless of the interruption of the mulli(
dividing it into separate lancets. In order to g
more light at the western end of the nave, cl(
by where one enters, only the lower half of i
three most westerly windows on each side are gla;

162

Milan

in colour d,e upper hdv« being giv.„ over ,o
^"loumJ panes. All these „,ve embrasures have
the Go.h,c transom running across then, that we
no .ed ,n the apse. The t^nsepts are as elabo-

o7 h' T r"'"™"''' Sl^cd as the other parts
of the church. We commence to realize the great
l-cght of the interior when we look up at the
clerestory lights, and notice that they are so
d.sunt that we are unable to distinguish their
d".gns and must needs be content with their
satisfying colour.

Upon the long series of lancets that compass
- about on aU sides there is set forth such a
bewJdenng array of Bible stories that it seems
almost ,nv,dious to the others to attempt to de-
^cnbe a^y one. Certain pictures representing
med.^ shipping strike the eye at once, and thei!
"amtnaf on makes clear that ocean navigation ha,
progressed mo„ rapidly than the art of making
beaufftl „.„d„„„ The use of deep reds and
blue, ,n the nave impresses one. as indeed does the
general note of warm and rich tones throughout.
Ihe ,6A century glass here conspicuously lacks

explains why „ harmonizes so well with the deeper

163

A Stained Glass Tour in Italy

tones of its 15th century neighbours. One woi

almost conclude that the 1 6th century glaziers w

purposely warned to refrain from the excessive 1

of yellow stain and grey in which they so delight

We should also note the instances where

designers declined to allow the structure of

window to interfere with their artistic expressi

Generally they permitted the mullions and i

bars to restrict them to small pictures, and in 1

event to frame them, but sometimes they absolul

disregarded these architectural intrusions, and spr

their story right across an embrasure regardless

where the stone or iron lines might cross it. Hi

ever, it is clear to us moderns that these mer

the Middle Ages thoroughly understood the medi

in which they worked, for their effects possess t

charm and excellence.

The Certosa of Pavia, 30 kilometres awa)
the south, is not the only excursion which lures
out into the country that lies about Milan. Sarc
is distant only 25 kilometres to the north-v(
and in its pilgrimage church, precious for
masterpiece of Luini, and Gaudenzio's deligh
choir of angels, is an interesting 15th cent
window. "While it must be admitted that

164

taly

)ne would
ziers were
essive use
delighted,
irhere the
re of the
;xpressicn.
and iron
nd in that
absolutely
and spread
vardless of
it. How-
:se men of
he medium
assess both

es away to
:h lures us
1. Saronna
north-west,
IS for the
delightful
th century
I that the

i
i

I 'siL

Milan

glass ^onc i, not of sufficient importance to lure
us so far afield, nevertheless, taken in combination
with the admirable frescoes which adorn the walls
about .t. reason enough is given for a day out^f-
doors in level Lombard/.

m^v

CERTOSA DI PAVIA

THERE are few men who are not mi
interesting than their monuments, s
this is unquestionably true in the case
Gian Galeazzo Visconti, Duke of Mi
from 1385 to 1402, great as the compliment }
seem to those who have visited his chief monum<
the Certo^a of Pavia, located five miles from Pavia
the road to Milan. An odd-shaped, shrewd heac
his, as it appears painted on the wall of the se
circular apse of the south transept, where, on
knees, he is oflfcring a model of the Certosa
the Virgin. And the promise of his head is bo
out by the story of ' 's life. Boldly strong w
force was needed, a yet at other times
stealthily guileful a. any man could be who,
he, lacked physical courage in an age when
was almost the oily common virtue A \
chameleon of statecraft, and yet withal a man '
read and pondered much, as befitted the re\
of learning, which was then becoming so po

166

not more
nents, and
the case ot
• of Milan
iment will
nonument,
1 Pavia on
wd head is

the semi-
!re, on his
Certosa to
d is borne
Tong when

times as
! who, like
; when it
A ve7
a man who
the revival

so potent

I -

Certosa di Pavia

a ftctor in Italian development. One mu« not
let the dash of arms which, during the MiddJc
Ages, so constantly echoed up and down the
peninsula, distract us from observing that at
the same time men were busy bringing to light
the hitherto neglected literary and artistic treasures
of the Greeks and Romans, or that Plato, Homer,
Virgil, and Aristotle were now being for the first
time printed, and eagerly read. Most significant
«s Jt that men like Boccaccio were studying Greek
after having reached man's estate, so that they
might participate in the literary feast newly spread
from the store of the long-neglected ancients.
Oian Galeazzo was among the first to join in this
revival of learning, thus evidencing one of the
many traits that sUmp him a leader of his time.
Nor can he be charged, as can most of his con-
temporaries, with being possessed of the vices, as
weU as the virtues, of the Renaissance, for he
was temperate and of a clean life. But how did
he win his dukedom ? for inheritance was not
then a sure tenure. It happei.cd :.; ~ „s wise.
Upon his father's death his uncle and cousins
decided to join in the division of the great herit-
age, and as our hero found himself too weak to

167

A Stained Glass Tour in Italy

resist, he made a virtue of that weakness, and a
fruitful virtue it proved. He retired to Pavia,
his modest share of the patrimony, and left his
uncle to lord it in Milan and the other cities of
the duchy. Gian encouraged the generally pre-
vailing idea of his weakness, and let it be under-
stood that he was leaning towards religious fanat-
icism. Meanwhile he quietly assembled a strong
bodyguard of German mercenaries, foreigners who
had no ties in Italy other than their allegiance to
him, their paymaster. When the seeming security
of his kinsman's position had had time to ripen
into over-confidence, Gian announced his intention
one day in 1385 of going on a pilgrimage to
Varese. As his route passed near Milan his uncle
and the rest of his usurping kin rode out to
greet him. When he had them surrounded by
his guards, he gave an order in German, the trap
was sprung — they were all prisoners ! He rode
on to Milan, readjusted the status quo by quite
simply poisoning his uncle that night, and relieved
the other members of his family of any further
inconvenience from their estates. It was as com-
plete as it was simple. His attention to the
duties of government is a lesson to such modern

168

ity

to
by

the

Certosa di Pavia
official, as wish to carry out the pledges of the
platform upon which they were elected. Symonds
says, "His love of order was so precise that he
may be said to have applied the method of a
banker's office to the conduct of a State. It was
he who invented Bureaucracy by creating a special
dass of paid clerks and secretaries of departments.
Their duty consisted in committing to books and
ledgers the minutest items of his private expendi-
ture and the outgoings of his public purse; in
noting the details of the several taxes, so as to
be able to present a survey of the whole State
revenue." Chiefly is he known to posterity as
the builder of the Certosa, or Qrthusian monas-
tery, near Pavia. This must not be taken to mean
that his successors did not add to his work, for
the Certosa is a history in stone of the entire
range of the Renaissance in Lombardy. But his
is the credit for having created and endowed this
beautiful group of edifices, and it stands as a
monument to one of the reaUy great statesmen
of the Middle Ages. So elaborate is the structure
in every part, without and within, that there are
some who claim that it is over-adorned, but not
so we. However true it may be that one should

169

A Stained Glass Tour in July

not paint a lily, let us insist thfit it is impossible
to over-decorate anything built of stone, for every
judicious stroke of the chisel tends to lighten the
appearance of the weighty material, and lightness out
of strength is architectural beauty. But even those
who, like Des Brosses, writing in 1739, find the
facade " a magnificent muddle of every imaginable
ornament distributed without selection and with-
out taste," are bound to admit with him that the
interior "strikes one on entering by its magnifi-
cence, fine proportions, its vaulting— one of the
most satisfying things I have ever seen in my
life." Were we to attempt to refer to its many
fascinating features we would become lost in the
maze of detail. The greater part of the stained
glass is of the latter half of the 15th centur>'.
The finest of the windows are by Cristoforo de
Mottis and Stefano da Pandino. The former's
best effort is in the old sacristy, representing St.
Bernard and the demon, and thus dated, "opus
Christofori de Motis I477," while in the chapel
of San Siro the window depicting the Archangel
Michael bears the legend, "Antonius de Pan-
dinus me facit." Mottis is also known to have
been the glazier of the San Gregorio Magno

170

Certosa di Pavia

window in the transept, which bears many small
buckets, the badge of Duke Galcazzo Maria
Sforza, showing that it could not have been later
than 1476. Another of his windows is that of
the Annunciation in the first chapel on the right.
Both Mottis and Pandino came to the Certosa
after having proved their skill in the cathedral
at Milan, where other members of Pandino's
femily had glazed as well as he. Mottis's brother
Jacopo was also engaged upon the stained glass
at the Certosa, from 1485 to 1491. The problem
of sufficient illumination has been handled just
behind Gian's tomb in a pleasantly frank way —
the coloured panes are stopped about a third of
the way from the top, and white glass used
above, reminding one of a custom dear to the
Dutch.

There are many memories lingering about
Pavia. Our own Columbus studied at its Uni-
versity about 1477, ^"^ there too was educated
Lanfranc, later Bishop of far-away Canterbury.
But the most outstanding episode of all is of
course the femous battle of Pavia, where the
royal invader Francis the First was defeated and
taken prisoner. Tradition tells us that on the

171

A Stained Glass Tour in Italy

evening of his capture he was taken into the
Ccrtosa just as the monks in the choir were
chanting

« Coagulatum e«t, licut lac cor meum,
Ego vera legem tuam mediutui turn,"

and that the unfortunate joined his voice with
theirs when they came to

** Bonum mihi quia humiliatti me
Ut diicam juttiiicationct tuai.*'

172

A REQUEST

If, gende reader, the author has found favour in
your sight, please evidence that gratifying state of
mind by advising him (at the address below the
Foreword) of any Italian glass, not herein reported,
which you may discover in your rambles.

»73

•■■ - * i

LIST OF TOWNS

Showing the Epoc

HS OF THBIR WlNDO

Arezzo

15th, i6th .

rAct
72

Assist

13th, 14th, 15th .

Bologna

15th, i6th .

142

Cortona

i6th .

Florence

14th, 15th, 1 6th .

Grosseto

15th .

141

Lucca .

15th .

116

Lucignano .

i6th .

Milan .

. 15th, i6th .

157

Monte San Savino

i6th .

Orvieto

14th, 15th .

Pavia (Certosa of)

15th .

166

Perugia

15th, 16th .

• 53

Pisa .

15th .

125

Prato .

. 15th .

III

Rome .

. i6th .

San Miniato

15th .

lOI

Saronno

. 15th .

. 164

Siicina

i6th .

. 77

Siena .

14th, 15th, 16th

• m

Vald'Ema .

. 15th, i6th .

. 106

Venice

. 15th .

. 150

17+

5AII0NN09

• Milan

• Pavia

•CCNOA

BotOGNA •

viNtec

>6NA«

^Prato
• FLoneNCt
SanMiniato SieciNA

3AVV

^ #C0RT0K4A

. • .PEmiQA

LUCKMMIO * ^

•Grosscto

iOmvicto

*-#

■Mil